Brain Fracture
by Danny-Shells
Summary: In which Voldemort uses the brain connection between Harri and himself to attempt to drive her insane. After all, a crazy person wouldn't be much of a threat to him. When Harry finds out, her magic reacts to cut out the connection. It just didn't realize how deeply the connection was woven into her own brain. A person can be fine after a lobotomy, right? FEM/Harry
1. Chapter 1

Harri wasn't exactly sure when she started to go crazy. It definitely wasn't until after Cedric died, she was sure of that. It didn't really start until she was at Dursleys.

The fake memories started first.

She could remember eating breakfast and lunch, but her stomach growled as though she hadn't eaten since the day before. She looked down to see she was still in her bedclothes. The clock said 6am. How could she remember eating breakfast and lunch?

Then the blood. She woke up with blood streaked everything. In her clothes, up her arms. Dried rivers of blood flowing over her body.

There were no injuries on her. It took a while to find the body of a cat hidden in the flower beds. She couldn't help but scream. At least the Dursley's weren't home.

She stared at the cat's body, mangled. It looked like someone had cut off the skin.

Next to the body, also tucked in the flower beds, was Aunt Petunia's pairing knife.

Harri didn't understand. She had no memories of any of it.

Had she stopped Dudley?

Did someone break in and take the knife?

But if someone else had done it, why was there so much blood covering her?

Worst of all, why couldn't she remember anything about it?

Then the Prophet started publishing those stories claiming she was going insane believing Voldemort was back. She'd grabbed the paper and flipped through it, wondering how they knew.

But they didn't really know, not about the memories or the blood or anything true. They were just making up fake stories without realizing how close to the truth they were actually hitting.

Harri was afraid to tell anyone even when she woke up with a squirrel's tail in her hand. She buried the tail deep under Aunt Petunia's roses. It still had pieces of flesh stuck to it like it had been ripped off the squirrel.

No one would believe Dumbledore and her about Voldemort if they realized she actually was going insane. So, she buried it deep inside her, the same as her feelings about Cedric's death. Seeing the flash of green, watching him fall, they weren't emotions she could go through at the Dursley's. Just starting to think about them brought up such strong emotions that the Dudley's broken toys had started to rattle of their shelves in her tiny bedroom the one time she had tried to go work through her feelings.

The last thing she needed was to get expelled from Hogwarts for underage magic use; though, she wasn't even sure if accidental magic done without a wand could be traced by the ministry. She'd never gotten a warning before Hogwarts. And why had she gotten a warning when Dobby had performed the magic before second year? There was a lot she didn't understand about the magical world and its laws, so she decided to compartmentalize for the summer and deal with her feelings the next time she was at Hogwarts and safe to perform accidental magic from her strong emotions.

It took all of June before she realized what was happening. The craziness was continuing to progress. Now it came even while she was awake.

She was staring at the shower, trying to will her mind to go back to normal.

Flames were flowing from the spout where water should be. But nothing else was catching on fire.

Her hand moved closer to the flames. They didn't feel hot.

Then, her famous temper made an appearance.

"I did not survive all those years of neglect. I did not survive Hogwarts and trolls and dragons and Snape and everything else to go crazy inside of this house," she snarled as she shoved her hand into the flames.

Nothing burned. Cold water ran over her hands but all she could see where rivers of fire.

A growl escaped her, and she pushed in her mind. Pushed towards her eyes and tried to make the vision match up with her feelings.

Suddenly it felt like a vacuum was sucking her away into somewhere else.

A red haze covered her gaze as Harri looked around.

Men in long black robes with white masks milled around. At her feet, a man lay quivering, his breath coming in quick gasps. Next to her, a voice she recognized was talking.

"My lord, how is the plan going? What vapous thoughts fill Potter's mind?" the voice was saying.

In a second, it came to her. Lucius Malfoy was standing next to her talking. And he had called her lord.

A horror started to fill her mind as she frantically tried to pull back. It worked and she felt her mind tumble back into her body. She sat up with a gasp.

Voldemort was in her mind.

IN HER MIND!

How was that possible?

She had never heard of such a thing. Why did he want in her mind?

Then she remembered the blood, so like Ginny's own experience. Retching filled the room as she leaned over the toilet and gagged.

Voldemort was possessing her. Filling her mind with fake thoughts.

...

...

...

A paranoia had filled her. There was nothing new in her possession. She wasn't writing in any journals. It had taken a while, but Harri thought she had a few things figured out.

There was some sort of connection between herself and Voldemort. Dumbledore claimed her mother's love was the reason for everything, but it must go deeper. Somehow, when the Killing Curse had failed, it had left a permanent connection between Harry and Voldemort.

Her first thought had been to contact Dumbledore, but she couldn't risk putting everyone in danger. Besides, no one was talking to her, answering her letters. This wasn't something she could put in a letter, and she had no other way of contacting them.

And going to the others would put them in danger. What would happen when Voldemort saw where the Weasley's home was?

Instead, she read through her school books, looking for anything that would help. Dark magic on connecting souls or minds or whatever the Killing Curse had done shouldn't really be in a fourth-year textbook, but she couldn't just sit and twiddle her thumbs.

To be fair, what she eventually thought of was not in any magical textbooks.

She had been reading about the Protego shield spell when something from Dudley's old comic books had come to mind.

A mind shield. People would could read other minds or block mind reading attacks like in X-Men. Telepathy.

Could the Protego spell be modified to put a mental shield around her mind?

She pulled out a blank piece of parchment and wrote Protego in the middle. Creating a web, spells were written down in branching patterns from the original spell.

Imperius was the next one to branch off, but she'd never heard of putting yourself under Imperius.

Diffindo was put on its own branch. Maybe sever the connection and then shield her mind?

Relashio, the releasing charm. Next time she was in a hallucination, if she noticed, could she just make him release his grasp on her mind?

Then another word came to mind, not a spell by itself, but the latin word for mind, animi.

An intriguing thought came to mind. Connecting Protego, Diffindo, and Relashio to the mental arts.

Unknowingly, Harri's desperation had led her to Mastery level Arithmancy, developing new spells. Unfortunately, Harri had never taken a single Arithmancy class and had no idea how spells were created. She had no concept in the delicacy needed or how many tests were run before a spell was considered safe. A single syllable off could change the purpose of the spell, let alone how the wand movements were connected.

Harri certainly had no idea that mind arts were barely understood at best.

All Harri could think of was that she wanted to be free from her connection to Voldemort.

With her wand safely on the bedside table, she practiced the wand movements as she said the new spell. All the movements from the original spells were put together with a slight flick at the end because it reminded her of happier spells such as the levitation charm or accio. Useful charms that were lighthearted.

"Diffindo relashio animi Protego," she muttered, "Sever release my mind and shield. What am I even doing? This is stupid at best. It's not like I can even perform magic."

Her temper started to rise along with her frustration. Suddenly, it was like a dam broke, and all her pent-up emotions started to flow. Tears sprang up in her eyes.

She was scared and alone. No one would answer her letters other than single lines. Voldemort was in her mind. Cedric was dead, and it was her fault. She told him to take the cup with her.

"Diffindo relashio animi protego," she cried and did the wand movement.

A glow formed at her fingertips as her magic responded. She gasped and tried to push her magic down, but her emotions were too wild. Her magic had responded to her strong emotions in accidental magic. The words and movement were enough to give the magic a vague direction.

The golden light flowed from her fingertips into her brain.

Everything went dark and Harri Potter fell to the ground in a crumpled heap.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Break~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Where am I?" she wondered out loud. Well, she thought it was probably out loud, but she didn't seem to have any senses.

A light started to glow in the distance. Harri tried to follow it, but she wasn't sure if she was moving. She couldn't feel any limbs to walk or even crawl, but she tried to mentally push forward.

The light grew brighter and closer until she saw a park bench. As she went closer to it, she could suddenly feel her legs moving. Glancing down, her feet materialized beneath her, and she could suddenly feel them.

Harri sat at the bench and waited.

"Sweetheart," a voice breathed.

Harri's eyes widened, "Mum?"

Lily wrapped her arms around her daughter, "Oh my sweet, sweet baby."

Harri started to sob as she grabbed her mother, "What happened? Where am I?"

Lily had tears too, "There was an accident. I'm not sure if you remember what happened with your magic."

Harri pulled back, "My magic? Oh no! I was trying to find a way to sever the connection between Voldemort and myself. But…if I can see you…does that mean…I'm dead?"

Lily looked away and Harri felt herself grow numb.

"Not completely dead yet," Lily finally said.

"What does that mean?"

Lily sighed and ran her pale hand over Harri's black hair, "You are dead in the vaguest sense of the word. Your heart has stopped beating. You are not breathing. But you do not have to continue forward."

"I can go back?" Harri asked.

"You don't understand, baby. There's so much you don't understand. I don't think this was the way it was supposed to happen. I'll try to explain, but there's so much," Lily said.

"Please try," Harri begged.

Lily looked in her eyes, "You were right that there was a connection between you and Voldemort. It was deeply entangled in your brain because it has been there since you were one. The Killing Curse caused it as you suspected. When you said those spells and your magic responded, it cut out the connection with Voldemort and put a shield around your brain. No one would ever be able to read your mind again unless you learned to control that new aspect."

Harri felt herself lighten slightly, "But that's great! He won't be able to influence my mind anymore. The locations of those I love are safe now!"

"But it was so entangled that it killed you when it cut it out. It cut out large chunks of your brain," Lily continued.

The air was knocked from Harri's lungs, "What?"

"That's why you are here with me. His connection was so deep that it was too much. There wasn't enough brain left after the removal. Your brain didn't even remember to tell your lungs to keep breathing or your heart to keep beating," Lily said.

"No…" Harri breathed.

"But you do have a choice. Dumbledore was actually right; my sacrifice was important. Not just because I died for my child. That happens more often than you want to know. Instead, it was important because I had laid the ground work of a protection charm, ancient, Nurse specifically. I wasn't completely sure what all it would do, but it was a protection charm that needed the sacrifice of a close blood relative to work. That is what partially stopped the Killing Charm. Even now, it works to repair the damage. It can repair your brain to a point of sustaining life, but your brain will never be the same as it was. I'm so sorry, my baby," Lily told her.

"What are you trying to tell me? That I can go back as some sort of vegetable? Brain dead?" Harri demanded.

"No! Not brain dead, just damaged, not who you were before," Lily said.

"How is that possible? Why would my magic do this?" Harri asked.

"Magic is not truly ours. It is an energy that our bodies have learned to channel. Just like electricity can be used to power a lightbulb, too much electricity fries the same bulb. Your accidental magic was trying to cut out the connection. It couldn't direct itself or have a way of knowing that cutting the connection would cut out half of your brain," Lily explained.

Harri was silent as she stared around the area.

The area around the park bench had bloomed as they sat there. The small park in Little Whinging spread out around her.

Lily stood up and held a hand out to her. Harri grasped it as Lily led them to a small swing set.

Harri sat on it, and Lily pushed her.

"I used to take you to the park as an infant. I couldn't wait until you were old enough to really play," Lily told her. Harri's eyes had not dried.

"Is one of my choices to go with you and play in the park forever?" Harri asked.

Lily paused in her pushing and Harri slowed down, "Yes."

Harri didn't turn on the seat, "What are the other choices?"

"You could go back. Or you could become a ghost," Lily told her.

"Why would I go back?" Harri asked.

"Because it is your destiny to kill Voldemort. You don't have to, but if you do not, no one else will," Lily said sadly.

"Why is that my job? I'm not even fifteen yet! Besides, I won't be any help now," Harri screamed in frustration. She jumped off the swing at the top, feet stumbling as she hit the ground.

"I wish it wasn't your destiny, but I have no control over that. However, you do not understand, you would not be brain dead or incapable of thought. Instead, you would have a fractured mind. Your thoughts might not all connect anymore," Lily said.

Harri looked into her eyes, "You think I should go back."

It wasn't a question.

"You are my baby, and I want you safe more than anything. I want you with me. But, more than that, I want you to experience a life. Love, children of your own. If you can defeat Voldemort, you can have all of that and then still come to me later," Lily told her, holding her shoulders fiercely.

"I'm scared," Harri whispered. She could tell that her mother understands everything behind that statement. Scared of fighting Voldemort, scared of being more damaged than she already was.

Lily wrapped her daughter in a tight hug. They both knew she had already made a decision.

"Your father and I watch you all the time. We will be here waiting for you," she whispered in her daughter's ear. Harri tried to grip her tighter, but her mother was already starting to feel less solid.

"Look for Bruce Banner," her mother said, "He will be able to understand more than anyone."

"I don't even know who that is!"

"I love you, baby girl," her mother said as Harri's brain started to wake up.

Harri woke up in agony. Her chest was burning.

Everything felt too bright as her eyes opened.

"What…am…. who?" she muttered. Her eyes widened, that hadn't made sense. But what was she trying to say anyway?

"Banner Bruce," she tried again. Backwards. Her words came out backwards, like Yoda.

She stumbled to her feet, the burning lightening only slightly. On the bedside table, her wand still lay. The sun was lower in the sky than she remembered, but it was still far from dark. Dudley's old clock said 3:24. She thought it might have been around 11 when she had been in her room earlier.

Harri wondered what she could do now.

A smell drifted into her nose and she almost gagged. Looking down, she was disgusted to find she must have lost control of her facilities during her death.

She grabbed clean clothes and went into the bathroom. Her towel was still wet from her shower earlier. When she turned on the faucet, water sprayed out. She sighed in relief.

It only took a few minutes for her to wash off. Back in her tiny room, she grabbed a few key possessions from the loose floorboard. In Dudley's room, she grabbed his knapsack and shoved in her items; the photo album, invisibility cloak, and money pouch. A few outfits including her three Weasley jumpers.

"How find…Banner?" she tried to ask herself. It seemed like her thoughts couldn't flow anymore.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Break~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Bruce Banner knew he looked older than his 28 years. Graduated high school at 15, then college and the PhDs. His mother used to tell him that four was probably enough, but he wanted to learn more. By 23, he had seven PhDs.

He'd started working for Betty's dad straight out of college, and it was only a year into it that the Hulk had happened, then Manhattan and three and a half years on the run.

Being on the run and the Hulk had done a number on his body.

Of course, he wouldn't at least be blessed to look like a superhero after going through the Hulk. He didn't grow overnight or gain huge muscles. He wasn't startling handsome or able to make a girl swoon with a single glance.

Instead, his messy black hair had gained a fair amount of grey, and new worry lines appear on his forehead.

Currently, he was on his way to India. His degree had been in biological sciences, and he'd taken almost as many medical classes as anything else. A passing stranger had told him about the need for qualified doctors in India.

His flight from Canada ended in London, then the tube into France and buses across the continent.

It was supposed to be quiet.

Supposed to be.

A frantic kid making absolutely no sense was not supposed to pop out of nowhere. She was not supposed to be looking for a "Banner Bruce."

"Wow, wow, slow down. Why are you looking for me?" he asked her as he sat next to her in a quiet corner of the airport.

"….H…H…help," she got out, looking at him with pleading green eyes.

"Help, with what?" he asked, stiffening. The last thing he needed was someone looking for the Hulk.

"D…d. don," she seemed frustrated as well and it made her speech even more disjointed.

His eyes narrowed as he looked at her head, "How did you get that scar?"

Red, raised, it looked like it was barely head. It seemed to start right above her eyebrow in a lightening shape and branch up her forehead into her hair line. It was thick and looked like a pretty bad cut.

Her fingers raised to it, and her eyes widen. He didn't think she had realized how thick it was.

"Cut," she said.

"Cut, cut what?" Banner asked.

"B…b…brain," she stammered out.

"Your brain. Are you talking about a lobotomy?" he was growing more startled. Without thinking, he pushed away her hair, looking closer. She flinched backwards in a way he unfortunately recognized from spending time in impoverished areas. A lack of money certainly didn't mean parents would abuse their children, but it did lend itself to children having bad experiences.

He held up his hands, "Hey, I'm not going to hurt you. If I'm going to help, I need to know more about what's going on. Did someone cut your brain?"

She nodded her head empathically, happy she didn't have to try to say it.

Banner's eyebrows rose steeply. He didn't know of anyone still doing lobotomies. And why would they be doing it on a kid?

"Are they coming after you?" Banner asked. She nodded again.

"Help?" she asked him.

Bruce thought about it. She was a kid, no more than 14, but he thought maybe closer to 12. The last thing he needed around the Hulk. And he was being followed by many different organizations seeking to turn him into a weapon.

Despite that, this kid had obviously already been through some stuff. He needed to know why they were cutting into her brain and if there was anything he could do to help.

In a split second, he made a decision.

"Come on, we have a bus to catch."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Break~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When Natasha was sent to retrieve the Hulk, he had been living in India for at least four months, but SHIELD suspected it was closer to six. During that time, he'd had a small, black haired teenager with him.

Facial recognition had matched her to Harriet Potter, an orphan who had been living with her aunt and uncle until she suddenly ran off. She'd turned fifteen during her time with Banner. There was an official missing person's report filed, but no evidence of anyone ever searching for her. It was kept completely confidential, and therefore, suspicious to SHIELD.

"Listen, we don't know the connection. Probably her aunt and uncle sold her to him for some extra money, and that's why they didn't bother with any sort of searching. Don't plan on using her bait, because he might not even be attached to her," a voice spoke in her ear.

Natasha rolled her eyes at some agent trying to coach her on persuasion tactics.

"Just add that to his crimes, huh. Killing innocent scientists, soldiers, cop, and now kidnapping and holding a teenager hostage," another agent spoke.

Agent Coulson interjected at this point, "Agents, focus."

It's all the mild-mannered agent needed to say for them to stop gossiping.

At least for the minute.

Natasha didn't really care what Potter's purpose was with Banner unless she could be used as a bargaining chip.

Natasha wrapped the shawl around her shoulders loosely as she walked into the hut. A child was leaving through the window as Banner turned around.

"This is why we should've made her prepay," he mumbled to the girl standing next to him holding the medical bag. She smiled, but it didn't reach her eyes.

"Dr. Banner," Natasha said. "For a man supposed to be avoiding stress, you pick a wonderful place to stay."

"Edge of the city, this was a trap," Banner said. Harri tensed next to him. "How many agents do you have outside?"

"Just you, me, and the kid," Natasha soothed. Her eyes caught how he had stepped slightly in front of her, protecting her.

Banner stared her down, "Are you here to kill me? Because that's not going to work for everyone."

"Of course not," Natasha gestured to the girl, "Does she know what you are?"

Banner scoffed, "Yes, she does."

"I'm here to request a favor. Director Fury needs your scientific expertise," Natasha continued.

"Sure, he wants my science skills."

"We have a special mission that requires your work with gamma radiation. It is a matter of international crisis."

Banner looked around him, "Now those I actively try to avoid."

"We need your help tracking a gamma signature," Natasha continued.

"And if I say no?" Banner asked. The girl took a step closer to him.

"There are ways of persuading you," Natasha said.

Banner laughed slightly, "And if the other guy says no?"

Natasha pulled up a picture on her phone, "This is the tesseract. It produces enough energy to wipe out North America."

Banner couldn't resist walking across the room to look at it closer. He pulled his glasses from the pocket of his old suit.

"And what do you need me for? To swallow it?" he asked sarcastically. Harri looked around him at the phone.

"It emits a gamma signature too weak for us to trace. You are the only person with the expertise to follow it," she looked at him, "If there was someone else, I'd be with them."

"Sure, Fury wants me in a cage," Banner continued.

Natasha wondered why the girl hadn't said anything.

"We do not want the Hulk- "

Banner slammed his hands on the table, "STOP LYING TO ME!"

As he expected, a gun was almost immediately in her hands. Natasha noticed the way that Harri had stiffened, already prepared for that.

"Sorry, that was rude of me, just wanted to check how you'd respond," Banner said softly, completely reverting to the mild-mannered scientist act.

He hummed as he thought, ignoring the pistol still pointed at him.

"I'll go without a fuss, but Harri is coming with me," he said.

That was all Natasha needed to know that the girl would be a powerful bargaining chip with one of the most dangerous creatures in the world. Or at least the human body that hosted it.

"Stand down," she spoke into the intercom. Soldiers put down their guns around the small hut.

"Just us, huh?" Banner asked sarcastically.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Time Change~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It hadn't taken long for Harri and Bruce to figure out each other's big secret, namely giant green monster and magic.

Bruce was jerked from his sleep by something hitting his face. His eyes had a tint of green as he was instantly awake and surveying his surroundings. He breathed in deeply, but the Other Guy couldn't smell anything amiss. The Other Guy enhanced his eyesight slightly so that he could see around him. What he saw had him rubbing his eyes wondering if he was still asleep.

The strange girl that he had picked up was thrashing in her sleep, seemingly caught in a violent night terror. Unfortunately, it was the sparkles of energy bouncing over her body that shocked him.

The sparkles were similar to electrical sparks or fireworks, pure bits of energy.

Strangest of all, they seemed to be emerging from her fingertips and going wild.

A part of Bruce wanted to run away. The last thing he needed was the Hulk making an appearance in the outskirts of some small French town. A bridge hadn't seemed like a fine place to stay, but their sleeping bags had kept them warm, and Bruce didn't have the money for hotel rooms.

Despite that, a part of his mind reminded him of how he was treated when the Hulk made an appearance. With that in mind, he decided to handle the situation the way he wished someone would help him.

Throwing the sleeping bag over his shoulder to shield exposed skin, he crept closer to the girl. The energy felt differently every time it touched his skin. Sometimes it burned like fire, others it felt colder than snow. The scientific part of his brain couldn't help but catalog all of it.

Eventually he reached her shoulder and placed a gentle hand on her thin shoulder.

"It's not real, you're safe," he said.

She whimpered in her sleep, and Bruce felt sympathy. He may not know where the pain came from, but he recognized how that felt.

"Hey, it's fine. It's Bruce here with you, the doctor you've been traveling with," he continued saying words in a gentle tone as she pulled herself from her nightmares.

She scuttled away from him and blinked up with huge green eyes, a blush spreading across her face. Bruce self-consciously ran a hand through his curly black hair.

"What…happen?" she asked in her broken manner.

"You had a nightmare and this energy came from your fingertips," he explained.

She looked frustrated as she stared at her hands.

He placed a guess, "I take it that shouldn't happen?"

She shook her head ruefully, "Should better control."

"Well, what was that stuff anyway?" he asked.

"Magic," she replied simply.

"No, for real," he demanded.

She stared at him, "Don't know?"

"How can you not know- "

She interrupted him by shaking her head. She poked a finger into his chest, "Don't know?"

"Ohh, you thought I already knew about this…magic?" Bruce asked.

She nodded her head.

"And you used to have better control, before your accident?" Bruce made another guess. She nodded at him.

"Worked up…no control," she said.

"I see," Bruce said, his mind twisting through many different options. Regardless of what she was, mutant or creation, it was starting to make more sense. Someone had gone after her brain trying to recreate her without actually killing her. Now she had woken up missing part of her brain and losing control over her powers.

"And someone recommended you come to me to get help with your powers?" Bruce continued his train of thoughts.

She held up a hand in a "Eh, yes, but also no" kind of way.

"Didn't know why…just help," she said.

Bruce looked startled, "OK, well I've never had an apprentice before. I guess we should start with you meditating with me in the morning. I don't know how much help I'll be with magic type powers, but sure, why not?"

She held out her hand, "Harri."

"Harry? Is that your name?" he asked.

"Har-ri-et," she sounded out.

"Oh, well I'm Bruce but you already know that."

It had taken less than a week for Harri to find out about the Hulk. Banner had better control now than he had ever had before, but the Hulk always came out in life threatening situations. The mugging in the back alleyway had apparently constituted enough of a life-threatening situation that he had lost control.

Regardless of why he came out, he was surprised to find Harri sitting cross legged by him when he came to. Her green eyes stared into his eyes as they slowly returned to brown.

She looked surprisingly uncaring.

"Are you OK?" he gasped out immediately. The teen was barely five-foot-tall, how had she survived the Hulk emerging?

"Turn green," she said with a slight edge to her voice.

"You didn't know?" she shook her head. Bruce muttered curses, "Listen, I'm so sorry you found out like that. I just figured you already knew and that's why you came to me for help. I didn't mean to scare you or anything."

"Told 'bout magic," she said. Bruce finally recognized the edge as pouting.

"I already said sorry, I figured you already knew," he said again as the memories of the Hulk's adventure played out in his mind.

The Hulk had destroyed the men before turning to Harri. The teen's hair was flying in the air as what she called her magic spread from her fingertips, several bodies lying at her feet too. She looked startled by what her magic had done, but she wasn't scared of the Hulk. Surprised yes, but he could see no fear.

Hulk bared his teeth at her, tiny teen should be scared of him.

She bared her teeth back and tried to roar. It sounded so puny that Hulk almost laughed.

"Human tiny," Hulk said.

"Green giant," she replied.

"Smash tiny human?" he asked.

"No," she said as though they were discussing the weather.

He raised his fist, but the sparkles hit him, and he was suddenly sitting. Hulk fought to stand but felt like he was glued to the ground.

"Hulk smash tiny human!" he roared.

"No," she said again and sat across from him.

It took hours, but Hulk slowly lost interest in the tiny human. As he grew bored, the anger faded away until Bruce was able to return to his normal form. The smell of dead bodies broke him from his thoughts. He couldn't believe the girl hadn't run away in fear.

"You should be scared of the Hulk. If your…magic hadn't held him, he would've killed you," he scolded the girl.

She smirked at him, "Magic held."

He sighed, in some ways her speech made it like talking to the Hulk. Just a smaller, prettier version.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Back~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Her reaction to the helicarrier had been adorable though utterly exasperating. It was at least positive as Bruce bemoaned the idea of putting himself in the air with potentially hundreds of other people.

"Fly, fly!" she chirruped as she ran to the edge of the ship.

Bruce grabbed her around the waist and flung her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. Her gaze had seemed distant; he was worried she was stuck in a different memory. Her grasp on reality was sometimes tenuous during these memories, and the last thing he need was for her to walk right over the edge.

Then he'd be forced to jump after her to try and rescue her, and the Hulk would come out. SHIELD would have his head. Better to just carry her and try to ignore the disapproving glances of the agents.

Like he cared what they thought anyway.

"Fly," she pouted into his shoulder, but Bruce rolled his eyes.

"You cannot fly," he told her, though he wasn't actually sure of that. For all he knew, maybe her powers did include flying. He added that to the running list of things to check. At a different time.

The control room was like a smoothly run beehive, worker bees moving in different directions completing tasks needed to fly the ship. Director Fury was apparently the Queen Bee.

"Queen Bee," Harri muttered in his ear as he set her down. Bruce stifled a snort but wasn't quite enough because Fury turned his sharp glare on him. Then his gaze shifted onto Harri. She looked back at him without fear, but Bruce felt himself move slightly in front of her.

"Banner," Fury snapped, his gaze finally shifting over to Steve, "Captain."

Steve inclined his head, but Bruce really wished he was somewhere else. He fiddled with his pockets. Harri placed a hand on the back of his arm, probably to reassure him.

She didn't have the best capability for connecting the potential outcomes to current situations. To Bruce's knowledge, thinking through things was hard for her because she had a hard time connecting past, present, and future. She was either completely in the current moment or trapped in some past memory without conscience understanding of what was happening now. He figured the brain damage had left some issues with it all connecting.

He figured that was why she was so nonchalant in situations. She couldn't rationalize all of the dangers.

Still, the slight movement helped to calm him. At least one person was here who could truly do something to the Hulk.

Which reminded him of something, he leaned closer to Harri and spoke at the lowest volume he could, "Harri, you cannot reveal your magic. No matter what. Understand?"

She nodded and held a finger up to her lips to pretend to turn a key. Her symbol for secret. He pulled away feeling little gratitude. She'd built up a lot of control in the last six months, but her magic still tended to be as disjointed as her mind was. And that's if she even managed to remember this conversation.

Unfortunately, she quickly broke that rule and revealed her magic to everyone. He should have realized what the scepter was doing. Harri had realized as she paced the lab Bruce was working in. He kept her close to him. SHIELD had wanted him, and it wasn't fair that he had dragged her into this mess. Though, if he'd known somewhere safe for her, he would've sent her there long ago.

At least she had some defenses with her strange powers.

The scepter had caused all of them to say some horrible things, and Bruce wished the teen hadn't been there.

"SHIELD is creating weapons," Steve had announced.

"Great, super powered weapons using the tesseract. Cause there's nothing wrong with that scenario."

"Like you can say anything about morals while you're carrying a child around with you. She's only what, twelve? Does she cry every time or was it just the first few times?" Tony had said.

Everyone ignored Harri's indignant cry of fifteen.

"I've been wondering why she was here anyway," Steve had agreed.

Bruce straightened, "You don't even know what you're talking about. I'm helping her."

"Maybe you need to remove yourself from this situation, Doctor," Natasha had said.

"We were in Calcutta, pretty far removed from the situation," he'd snarled at her.

Then came the explosion. In a flash, he was flying through the air before smacking sharply into the floor. He was groggy and slightly dazed.

Harri was lying next to him but she sat up swiftly.

Natasha was slower than Harri to come around. She told Fury they were fine before glancing closer at Banner.

Were they fine?

Suddenly, the teenager sat up. Natasha glanced at her as Banner's muscles spasmed.

"Run, get out of here!" she yelled as she struggled to free her leg. Harri looked at her curiously as she settled into her cross-legged position.

Bruce jerked as more of his body turned green. His back arched in the agony of every muscle and bone stretching. Harri felt sadness as she remembered someone in a similar position. When was that she wondered? Something with a wolf and agony.

But she had been scared that time, and she wasn't this time. The Hulk did not scare her.

Natasha did not seem to share her feelings though as she tried to talk Bruce into not transforming.

"Banner listen to me, I promise I will get you out of here alive," she tried to coax him.

"STOP lying to me!" he roared, already more Hulk than Banner.

He staggered slightly away as the last of Banner faded away and the Hulk roared.

"Tiny human," he said to Harri.

She nodded back at him. They had reached somewhat of an agreement, neither could destroy the other, so they had relative peace.

"Hulk stop," she replied.

"Hulk smash," he roared.

"No."

"Smash."

Sparkles came out from her fingertips and glued Hulk to the bottom of the carrier. He pulled against it with all of his strength. The screws started to rip up as he pulled. Another wave and the screws were pulling back down into the metal.

Hulk continued to roar.

Natasha turned to Harri, "How are you doing that?"

"Classi…classi…classif," Harri couldn't get the word out and felt frustrated.

"How long will it hold him?" she asked.

Harri shrugged in reply. She seemed content to sit there and wait for Bruce to return, but Natasha grabbed her upper arm and pulled her to her feet.

"Do you have to watch him to hold him?" she asked.

Harri paused before shaking her head.

"Good, come on then, we need to help the others," the Black Widow said.

Harri tried to remember who the others were. Was it Hermione and Ron? Was something happening at Hogwarts?

Wait, Hogwarts, when was she going there? Summer seemed to have lasted forever. Or had it? Hadn't Bruce made her wear a coat the other day? She tried to explain that she didn't need a coat in summer, but he said it was too cold. Wasn't it still summer?

Natasha tugged at her arm, "Come on, people are going to die."

Harri charged forward at that. Maybe it was Ginny who needed rescued again. Would they go into the Chamber again?

She followed the woman up the stairs to a metal walkway. On the other end was a man with glowing blue eyes.

"Barton," the woman muttered. "Go on, Harri, I'll stop him."

Harri wasn't sure where she was supposed to go, but she sidestepped the two agents as they started to fight. She made her path by avoiding any loud areas. Bruce always made them avoid places that were loud and busy, harder to maintain control. She agreed, it was too hard to remember what was happening.

Her paths lead her to the quietest part of the ship, a room with two men in it. One with long black hair and a man who looked completely average, receding hair line and all. The average man was holding some sort of large weapon to the other one.

She accidentally opened the door with a bang in her hurry, and they both turned sharply to her.

"Sorry," she mumbled.

The black haired one stepped closer, "What trickery is this?"

She held out her hand, "Ha…Harri."

"I am Loki, God of Magic, bow before me slave," he demanded.

"No," she said, a word easy for her to get out.

"Your magic has contained my beast," he growled.

"Beast no Bruce," she replied.

Coulson used the distraction to fire at Loki with the gun. He stumbled then flashed away.

Fury came into the room then, "What is going on in here?"

Coulson smiled at Harri, "I think you saved my life. Great job with the distraction."

Harri shrugged.

Fury looked between the two, "Coulson, stay here."

Harri followed Fury as he grabbed something from the locker labeled Coulson and lead the way to the deck where most of the Avengers were gathered. Along the way, he dipped whatever was in his hands in one of the piles of blood. She felt the Hulk go away and released her hold on the magic. Bruce stumbled up the steps. She went over and braced him with her shoulder. To the others, it should look like he was standing on his own. Only the two of them really knew how much he was leaning on her, well and probably the super spies knew.

Fury waved the cards around the room, "Coulson died fighting Loki. All because you bunch of idiots couldn't stop fighting to work together for ten minutes. You played right into his little trap."

Here he paused for a minute to look at Bruce and Harri. He was fairly positive that Loki's goal had been to set the Hulk on a rampage, so that hadn't gone to plan.

He continued, "You were supposed to be the best that Earth had to offer. The goal was for you to save lives. Instead, my best agent is lying dead in the other room."

The Avengers looked down, ashamed.

"It's time to stop Loki. But it can only be done if you work together."

The jet was a silent place as they traveled towards New York City. Harri watched as Bruce sunk back into the seat. Transforming took a lot out of him.

She wanted to tell him something, about someone not dying, but she couldn't remember who it was. And sometimes the name would flit through her mind, but she couldn't get her mouth to say it.

She started to sign something to him.

Bruce looked at her when she tapped on his shoulder. He had gotten some books on sign language 3 months ago, and they had been using it since then. Harri was much smoother in her motions than her voice sometimes suggested.

He signed back to her.

Clint glanced at them in the mirror, "You know sign language?"

Bruce looked up in surprise, "Uh yeah, Harri does better with signing than speech. Her brain control over the hypothalamus is spotty at best, but she knows a lot more than she can verbally say. Sign gives her more of a voice."

Clint nodded, "Sign gives a lot of freedom."

Bruce turned back to Harri, "Really?"

She nodded.

"But who? Wait, do you mean Coulson isn't?" she nodded again. He glanced up to make sure none of the other Avengers could hear them.

"Well, that couldn't back fire at all," he said sarcastically, but didn't make a motion to tell anyone else. Then Harri signed something else at him.

"Follow?" he asked. She repeated the same sign, "If you mean Ross, I think it's beyond the point of worrying."

She shook her head and pointed at herself, ~Follow~.

Bruce understood, "Hey Hawkeye, Black Widow, does this jet have any masks tucked away? Like for privacy."

The Black Widow walked to a cupboard and grabbed a small eye mask. It wrapped around and tied at the back of a head. Bruce grabbed it when she tossed it to him and carefully tied it around Harri's head.

"There, no one will know," he reassured her.

She smiled at him.

The battle in New York City was scarier than anything Harry had ever witnessed before, and she had faced many things. The strong emotions made her brain damage worse than ever.

Captain had tasked her with shutting the portal with her magic. Natasha had informed the rest of the team on what had happened with Bruce.

"Need closer," she said.

"Fling tiny human," the Hulk said in warning as he grabbed her and spun around. He released at the top of the swing and sent her hurtling through the air. Harri wasn't particularly concerned.

When she had drawn close enough, she directed her magic to hold her in place. It obeyed her desire and held her at the edge of the portal. Then she directed it to shut. Sparks flew from her fingertips and formed around the edge of the portal. It started to pull the opening closed. Harri felt the pull on her magic. She reached out and started to pull from the magic in the air around her.

Suddenly, Iron Man was blasting through the closing portal. She watched as he climbed until his thrusters started to die, then he fell back down. The portal was almost shut, but she felt drained. She was so tired.

Maybe she could just take a nap.

As the portal closed, she lost conscience.

Harri floated down like a feather, her magic able to lighten her weight. The Hulk decided Iron Man hurtling to the ground was in bigger danger and leapt to catch him. With no one guiding her fall, Harri fell down onto the Tesseract.

She woke up as it connected with her. The power surged through her, making her scream. It went straight for her brain, trying to heal the damage. It felt like parts of her brain were literally regrowing like her arm bones on skelegrow.

The Avengers gathered around her.

Suddenly, she stopped screaming and the blue beams of light coming from her eyes and mouth faded. Her body slumped to the ground. The Hulk didn't seem to feel the same hesitation that the others felt and scooped her up in a giant hand.

"Tiny human need help," he snapped and led the others to the top of Stark tower where Thor was waiting with Loki.

The black-haired man quivered at the sight of the Hulk, especially as he got closer. Then he looked curious as the Hulk laid the teenager in front of him.

"Why do you bring me the magic user?" he asked.

Hulk growled at him, and he lost his cold demeaner. Hulk laughed.

"Tiny human special. Fix her," he growled.

"She collided with the Tesseract, then the blue glow shot out of her face," Tony explained.

"The Tesseract has incredible power. It does not like broken things. I believe it probably tried to heal the broken pieces as best it could," Loki said.

"So its not going to hurt her worse?" Tony asked.

Loki considered, "It is surprising that a human was able to survive direct contact with the tesseract. In most cases, she would have instantly died. If you ever tire of her, I would be interested in buying the girl off of you."

Thor placed a muzzle on his brother.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Break~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Harri was out for 48 hours. Bruce acted as doctor and worried friend. He gave the Avengers an abbreviated explanation as they waited for her to wake up. If she ever woke up.

"I was on my way to India. My flight ended in London, then I'd take the tube. She showed up in the airport looking for a Bruce Banner. I grabbed her and tried to figure out what was going on. She said she needed help. Someone had very recently performed a lobotomy on her, cutting out part of her brain."

"They can do that?" Steve asked.

Tony snorted, "In horror movies. It's a procedure that's almost never done today."

Bruce shrugged, "I'm guessing they were trying to discover the source of her powers. She obviously has issues ever since. She claimed they were still hunting for her. I was already on the run, and she clearly needed help, so I took her along. I couldn't think of anyone to send her to. Someone had already given her my name and sent her to me saying I could help her learn control. When they cut into her brain, they messed up her control of her powers," he explained.

"They didn't cut into my brain," Harri muttered.

Bruce jumped up and started checking instruments, "You're awake!"

"And you can talk again?" Tony asked.

"Yeah, I feel better than I have in months. Not the same as the original me, but definitely better," she said.

"Who did cut into your brain, then?" Natasha asked.

Harry looked awkward, "Uh, well me. Or more specifically, my magic did. I realized I had a connection to a Dark Lord. The guy who killed my parents and tried to kill me. I was super emotional, and my magic responded by trying to cut the connection. Unfortunately, magic is like electricity, just a force to be directed. It had no way of knowing how much damage it was causing to me. It cut out chunks of my brain."

"Why didn't you die?" Tony asked.

"Technically I did, but magic was able to bring me back. It just couldn't heal me all the way," Harri said.

"And then the power of the Tesseract amplified the healing and brought you to this point," Banner mused.

Harri nodded, "Probably, I don't really know about any of that stuff."

The Avengers slowly filed out of the room after that. Eventually it was just Bruce and Harri.

She blushed, "Hey, thanks for taking care of me. I know I was crazy and a handful."

He looked awkward too, "I'm a doctor, that's what we do."

She nodded, "Yeah, but you went above just the call of a doctor, and I appreciate it. I think you're the closest friend I've ever had."

"Living and traveling with someone for six months can do that for a person."

Her eyes widened, "Six months? What day is it?"

Bruce looked at his phone, "December 6th, why?"

"Hogwarts! I've missed half the year!"

**Author's note: **

**I've taken a few liberties with the time line. For example, the battle in New York was supposed to be in summer, but I set it in the winter to fit this time line better. **

**This was originally just supposed to be a one shot, but I think I'll add some more as I feel like it. Next chapter would be wizards, and how fifth year would be different. I mean, Harri missed half of the year, she no longer has a connection to Voldemort, her brain and magic is different, slightly broken, and she has formed a deep connection with Bruce Banner. **


	2. Chapter 2

_**GIRL-WHO-LIVED MISSING**_

_**Our "Saviour" failed to return to Hogwarts for her fifth year. The Prophet can't help but suspect that her mental condition has deteriorated to such a point that she is no longer able to continue in classes. Our reporters are certain that she would be a risk to fellow students. Harriet Potter is known for strong abilities in Defense. It would be easy to turn those spells to harm. **_

"_**I'm sure the Board wouldn't allow her to return. There's no doubt in my mind that she would attack other students if allowed close to them. She's always been antagonistic and wild. She would attack the other students for no reason, completely unprovocted. Course, Dumbledore always managed to sweep incidents under the rug, but she's had loads of detentions. All that should be public record," Hogwarts student Pansy Parkinson reported. **_

_**(For a complete look at Harriet Potter's academic records including how many times she got detention and all her point deductions, turn to page 3.)**_

_**(For more on the disappearance, turn to page 5). **_

Harri wasn't afraid to admit that she took longer than strictly necessary to contact anyone from the Wizarding World. Sure, she used the excuse that she didn't really have a way to contact them, but she couldn't help but feel comfortable in her new life.

Besides, it was practically the winter holidays anyway. Might as well wait for the spring term rather than going back for a week.

Life in Stark Tower was pretty pleasant. Harri loved the unusual feeling of being surrounded by people more famous than herself.

Tony, Steve, the Hulk, and Thor were all more famous than they ever had been before. Almost no one knew the other personality of the Hulk, so Bruce Banner was relatively anonymous. Stark had ensure no decent photoage of Natasha or Clint was released to the media, so they had maintained their secrets.

Plenty of people were curious about the only masked Avenger, but that had remained strictly confidencial in the highest level. Fury didn't want to deal with the backlash if someone found out he had allowed a 15 year old minor to fight in the battle.

Plus, none of the other Avengers wanted an untrained teen to become a center of attention. All the rest of them were trained adults. Sure, Harri could probably defend herself with her magic, but they didn't want to risk it.

So, after the battle, Harri was free to live as a completely normal teenager.

OK, not completely normal, but at least not famous in muggle New York.

Bruce kept her busy with schoolwork of the Muggle kind. He'd been horrified by how little she'd known, and he'd started the homeschooling even while they were on the run. No knowledge of basic chemistry, biology, or other higher level sciences. The highest math she'd had was when she was eleven years old, i.e. certainly not college level. And history of magic with Binns had been her nap period.

He'd started an intensive programs in the evenings. Bruce would come back from the clinics dripping in sweat and various bodily fluid. Harri would head out of the clinic about an hour before him to start supper. After eating whatever she'd been able to make with their meager supplies and cleaning up, Bruce would start a school session.

Harri had never experienced schooling like it before.

With the Dursleys', she wasn't allowed to do better than Dudley. Actually, they seemed please the worst she did.

Then she got to Hogwarts where was best friend was a habitual underachiever and the other would've been furious if she'd done better than her. Not that Harri really thought she could have beaten Hermione, but even trying would have probably put a strain on their relationship.

In the small huts they had stayed in, there were no tests. No one was grading her or comparing her to other students.

For the first time in her life, Harri was learning just to learn, to improve herself.

It had been a freeing experience.

She'd discovered that, even with the brain damage, she certainly wasn't a genius, but she also was above basic intelligence levels. It made sense, her mother was often described as a true genius like Hermione and James was renowned for being top of Transfiguration with good grades in the other classes. Plus, he'd been part of the famous Maruaders who had managed Animagus transformations in their fifth year, a remarkable feat.

With no other students to cater to, Bruce had pushed Harri at her own rate. They had flown through Science, Bruce's own best subject. Math had come fairly easily as well, but Harri was still ridiculously behind in social studies.

The teaching in the evenings had been one of the first things to help Bruce realize that Harri's brain was damaged by the lobotomy but she wasn't stupid or mentally retarded. She just had issues. Sometimes they had to do an experiment multiple times before it really sunk in.

Now, with the Tesseract holding her brain together, she was really able to fly through the learning at Stark Tower.

Tony would occasionally try to help during the teaching sessions, but he normally went too quickly, leading to frustration between him and Harri.

Tony and Harri really weren't close at all. The only shared link between the too was a mutual connection to Bruce. Tony had accepted that Harri came with Bruce, so she would be moving in too if he wanted Bruce to move in.

On the other hand, Clint and Harri got along great. Clint loved having someone who understand sign language around. His own hearing impairment and then being possessed by Loki made him more sympathetic of Harri's brain damage, instead of the pity she sometimes got from other members of the team. And he appreciated that she'd learn to use sign language because she needed to, not just for him.

The first time she'd flinched when someone raised a hand towards her too quickly, Clint's sharp eyes had locked onto her. He recognized all the same signs he had when he'd been a kid. Takes one to know one.

Without saying a word, he'd started training Harri in the mornings. Nothing had given him more peace than knowing he would never be pushed around by his stepdad again. Even though he'd been dead for years, it wasn't until Clint had learned self defense in the circus that he'd really felt peace.

He wanted to offer Harri that same peace, so he trained her.

Natasha was fairly neutral about the teen. She didn't approve of being in the teen's debt for keeping the Hulk from killing her in the Helicarrier, but there was nothing she could currently do to repay such a life debt. As such, she occasionally added her expertise in suggestions to Clint about Harri's training.

Steve had moved back into his SHIELD apartment, and the Avengers team hadn't seen much of him since. Thor had returned to Asgard, but occasionally sent them messages.

Bruce and Harri still spent the most time together. During the month before she tried to contact the Wizarding World, the two spent nearly the entire day together.

"On that table are the ingredients. Melt 6 ounces of potassium chloride over high heat. Once it's completely melted, add in the gummy bears. Take observations on what happens. There's extra of everything in case you want to do it again. Then, I have some questions for you to fill out on what happened," Bruce instructed her as he slipped to the other side of the lab.

"OK," she happily went over to the table.

"Oh, and Harri? Wear goggles," Bruce reminded her.

She scowled but slipped the bulky goggles over her glasses. It was miserable to wear double pairs.

Her frustration quickly turned to glee as flames shot from the the test tube.

"I assume it is supposed to do this, and I didn't just screw something up?" Harri checked.

Bruce glanced up from his own experiments and chuckled, "Yep, we're learning about exothermic reactions today."

"Lit," Harri said and turned back to her own experiments.

If only Snape had allowed Potions to be like this, all the Gryffindors would have been more interested.

After a few hours, Harri went over and put a hand on Bruce's shoulder. The absent minded man jumped slightly.

"Sorry," she said, though the grin on her face didn't look particularly apologetic, "If we don't hurry, we'll late for our clinic hours again."

Bruce looked at his watch and muttered a quiet curse.

She grinned as she handed him a sandwich and apple. It was easy to get caught up in the lab and forget about other obligations.

Harri wondered what Ron and Hermione would think if they could see her now, choosing to learn and do lessons when she could just spend her days training. Though, she reluctantly admitted that the Avengers would probably make her do the lessons even if she didn't want to. Still, the fact remained that she was actually choosing to get through as much learning as she could.

In her opinion, anything could be an advantage over Voldemort. Plus, being around the Avengers and the battle of New York had opened her eyes to the fact that there were things even worse than Voldemort out there. It wasn't enough in her life to just be an average joe, every new skill or knowledge might help keep her alive another year.

Harri was torn from her thoughts as she tripped on a crack in the sidewalk. Bruce reached out a hand to steady her, and she shot him a self deprecating grin.

"Stuck in the past?" Bruce asked.

Even with the Tesseract's powers, Harri sometimes still had her moments of getting trapped in her memories or too focused on the present.

"Nah, just thinking. I don't think my school friends would believe how much I'm enjoying learning," Harri said.

Bruce hummed in understanding.

He'd learned a good deal about her past in the nights. On the run in India, Harri and Bruce had often shared a sleeping space. Mostly out of necessity, they'd rarely stayed at a place that wasn't a single room hovel. And, it just had never seemed like a big deal in the developing countries.

Despite the insinuations, Bruce had never made any sort of inappropriate advance on the teenager. He was already aware of the many crimes on his soul and would never have added something like that. Plus, few people knew of his experiences with Betty after the Hulk had been added to his personality. He'd remembered how close he'd been to hulking out when Betty and him had nearly had sex. The increase in pulse and emotions had been too much for his control. Even though it had been years, and he probably could maintain control, Bruce had remained faithfully abstinent. Hulking out during an activity like that was more than Bruce felt like he could mentally handle.

Now though, Bruce had been adamant that Harri had to remain in her own bedroom during the nights. He didn't want others making inappropriate suggestions around her.

Then he heard her whimpering from the nightmares. His hearing was much too good to sleep through something like that, and he'd already trained himself to wake up to the sounds, so he could wake her before items started flying.

He'd quickly went to her bedroom to wake up the scared teen.

When she followed him back to his room, he'd stayed silent. Selfishly, he'd appreciated that she helped to keep his own night terrors away. Sometimes counting the pulse in her wrist helped him to calm down enough to sleep.

Other nights, neither could go back to sleep. It was in those nights that they shared more about themselves. Now that Harri could remember her past, she was able to share many stories, almost none good.

On nights when it was clear Bruce wasn't woken by her nightmares but already awake from his own conscience, she told the good stories, about winning Quidditch matches or performing the Patronus.

Sometimes, when the nightmares were too close and she felt like she had to share or go crazy again, she told him about the darker times. The abuse at the Dursley's house and her cupboard. Her fear at facing a full grown troll. Being certain that she would die in the Chamber, but just praying Ginny and Ron would be able to survive from her sacrifice. The sound of her mother's screams as she died.

Bruce would always share his own story. For a good story, he shared a good memory. For the nightmares, he shared his own nightmares.

For now, Harri had to drag herself out of her thoughts as they walked through the clinic doors. Bruce had introduced Harri to the medical world, and Harri felt like she had finally found a place she belonged. Being able to help others in such a way was amazing.

Unlike in India, where there were few restrictions, Harri wasn't able to do much of the healing. Instead she wondered around with crackers and apple juice, and a quick burst of healing magic for the sickest or youngest. She had a soft spot a mile wide for the scared and hurting kids.

Bruce spent the evening hours volunteering as a doctor. As soon as they'd gotten back, he'd taken the tests necessary to be properly certified as a medical doctor. Harri suspected Tony had done something to fast track the application, but it was one of the few times Bruce didn't argue.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Break~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A few days later, Harri knew she had to contact someone from the Wizarding World. Her original reason for coming back from her mother had been to defeat Voldemort. She couldn't hide in Stark Tower forever.

"I'm going find the wizarding section of New York," she casually announced.

Stark choked on the dried blueberries he'd been tossing into his mouth, and Clint paused his movie and sat straight up on the couch. Bruce straightened his shoulders before turning to her.

They were the only ones in the Tower.

"Brilliant," Tony said, "We're coming along."

Harri shrugged, she'd been silently hoping they might come along. She just wished she knew what American wizards normally wore. Harri's new magic skills hadn't really changed. She couldn't use a wand anymore, so she'd just willed her magic to lead them to the wizarding part of America. A part of her was concerned about the return to Hogwarts with her magic acting so strangely, but she decided to just shrug it off.

"In England, wizards wear long robes," she muttered to the other three. Then she spotted a wizard wearing the more traditional robes and pointed toward him.

Tony and Clint scoffed.

"How are you supposed to fight in something like that?" Clint asked.

Bruce looked intrigued, but threw up defensive hands when the other two men sent him looks, "Sorry, it's just not as weird in some cultures like the Japanese kimono. Guess I'm more used to it from my travels."

Tony huffed, "Bet they wouldn't even know my band logos then."

At the public owlery, she was able to send off a letter to Dumbledore for a small fee. She hadn't said much, just that she could be found at Stark Towers in America.

Then, she returned to her new friends who she happily showed around the wizarding district. She wasn't surprised by Bruce's keen interest in potions; she'd noticed the similarities to Chemistry.

Tony's genius brain was working at high speeds, and he had more questions than Harri had answers.

"And flying, with a broom? Robes. Did the folklore come first or did wizards develop around the lores?" Tony was asking. Then he spotted another store front and launched into a new round of questions.

Tony and Bruce spent an obscene amount of time in the book store. Even Clint was interested, so they left with quite a pile of books. Harri had grabbed many books on magical healing as well as magical accidents in the hopes that her new love of medicine might connect to the wizarding side as well as hoping to find out more about her own condition.

A group of wizards appeared in the Tower shortly after the quartet had returned in the evening. They'd had a great day wondered a magical world, and Harri had almost managed to push the true reason for the visit from her mind.

At the cracks around the room, Bruce had immediately stiffened, eyes turning slightly green. Harri had placed a reassuring hand on his arm, recognizing the sounds.

"Harriet?" Dumbledore's voice asked.

Harri turned around to look at the group.

"Get away from her, sicko," Sirius snarled at Bruce.

"Sirius, stop," she stepped in front of Bruce the way he normally did for her.

"Don't tell me to stop. I'm going to tear that guy apart limb from limb. Why did you kidnap her?" Sirius was yelling. Harri felt herself being slightly tired of his brashness. This was why she was left to the Dursleys for ten years instead of getting to live with him.

Luckily, Dumbledore held up an appeasing hand, and the wizards and witches in the room reluctantly lowered their wands.

"My dear, you've been missing for nearly seven months," he said. "We are all understandably concerned about where you've been."

Harri grinned sheepishly, "That's actually my fault. I kind of cut out part of my brain?"

"What?!"

Tony chose that moment to wander into the meeting. The wands turned on him and his cuffs immediately turned into two blasters surrounding his hands.

"Banner, Potter, am I right in assuming these are British wizards from their nightgowns?" he called.

Harri nodded at him, and he grinned at the wizards, "Hey I'm Tony Stark."

"Perhaps you could be so kind as to lower your weapons, Mr. Stark," Dumbledore suggested. His faintly amused look had Harri wagering a guess that he didn't think a muggle creation could do them much harm. Harri suspected they would be greatly surprised if Tony actually used his weapons.

"Put yours away, and I'll put mine away," Tony waggled his eyebrows suggestively at a pink haired witch.

Dumbledore waved his hand again, and the wands were lowered. Harri finally took the chance to look at the assorted group. Sirius and Mrs. Weasley came over and swept her into a hug.

"Oh dearie, we were so worried," Molly said, wiping tears away.

"You have to tell us what happened, so we can put these sickos away. No matter what happened, we have to know," he shot a fierce glare at Bruce then Tony, Molly was nodding her head next to him even as another burst of tears came out. Bruce and Harri both blushed at the insinuations, but Tony looked like he was going to laugh.

"How about we all sit down," Dumbledore recommended.

The meeting took a while, but Harri was eventually able to explain what happened. Few had believed what she claimed her magic had done, but Dumbledore looked thoughtful.

He stopped many doubts by saying that he had long known about the connection between Harri and Voldemort. He seemed relieved that it was gone.

"I'm sorry my girl, I never told you because I have always suspected that your death may be the only way to remove the connection. I had not wanted to burden you with that," he told her.

Harri felt herself stiffen, "What place was it of yours to choose that for me? It was my body, and my brain at risk."

"It was all for the Greater Good," Dumbledore spread his arms wide, "Imagine if Voldemort had realized it before the graveyard. If I had told you sooner, and you were constantly thinking on it, it may have raised his awareness as well."

Harri wanted to argue, but none of the magicals looked like they agreed with her. Most were nodding along to Dumbledore's words. At least Tony and Bruce looked displeased. She knew Tony's opinion on information being withheld from him.

"Ahh, now I believe it is time that we leave Stark Towers and return to Hogwarts. You have already broken the statute of secrecy," Dumbledore looked disappointed over his glasses.

Snape muttered something that sounded something like typical Potters and Mrs. Weasley looked like she was about to break into a lecture at the reminder.

"Actually, she didn't," Tony said.

"What?" the group asked.

"I've been reading through some magical law books. The law clearly states that a witch or wizard is not allow to demonstrate magic in the presence of nonmagicals through wands or potion makings. They also may not use magical objects in such a way that demonstrates the nature of magic," Tony recited using his photographic memory. "She's never performed wanded magic in front of us."

"She revealed our world to you," Snape hissed.

"Nope," Tony popped the last syllable, "That was Loki during the battle of New York."

At the groups' blank looks, his eyebrows shot up, "Battle with the Chitauri? Aliens and Norse gods? Ringing any bells?"

He actually looked blindsided at their continued blank looks, "Have you been living under a rock?"

"No just magical Britain," Harri muttered.

The Avengers had already agreed that they would claim Loki had revealed the entire magical community to them, so that Harri didn't get in trouble. Not technically the truth, but he was an easy scapegoat.

The meeting had gone downhill from there. Dumbledore and the other wizards clearly wanted to return to Hogwarts where they had the upper hand, but Harri refused to leave.

It came to a head when Snape grabbed Harri's shoulder in a death grip and attempted to Apparate her away. Bruce had slammed to his feet with his eyes looking suspiciously green.

"Take your hands off of her," he snarled.

"Bruce, it's fine, I've got this," Harri pleaded with her friend as Snape sneered at the man, not recognizing the danger he was in. The sneer turned to surprise and anger as he turned slightly again only to find himself incapable of apparating away.

"What is going on?" he snarled at the girl and shook her shoulder.

Harri glared at one of her chief antagonizers, but remained silent. She continued to will her magic to stop any apparition.

Bruce was shaking slightly where he was standing, but Tony was the one to lay a rock hard grip on Snape's shoulder.

"The girl said to let her go," he said in a cold voice.

"Unhand me muggle," Snape sneered.

"Not unless you let Harri go," Tony stared the man down.

Dumbledore stepped into the situation, but he seemed more focused on Bruce. Harri disliked seeing in the look in his eyes. She recognized the look that suggested Bruce could be a valuable weapon.

"I think we can all come to a happy arrangement," he muttered.

The tensions were high, but eventually Bruce Banner was hired as Hogwart's long term muggle studies substitute professor until something was found out about the missing Burbage.

Sirius seemed in disbelief that Dumbledore would hire the person he suspected was responsible for abducting Harri. Most of the other wizards seemed to share the same opinion and had been quite vocal in their opinions.

"Now, I'm certain that Dr. Banner will be of some benefit to the school," Dumbledore said congenially.

Harri felt suspicious, but she was glad that Bruce was coming with her. Tony was pouting that he couldn't come, but Dumbledore didn't seem to take his blasters seriously the way he had Bruce's almost transformation. Plus, Harri had already laid out the potential dangers to Tony if he was around an area with too much magic. He was only alive because of his arc reactor after all.

Then Clint had jumped from the air vent, causing Tony to say some choice swear words and many wands to be swung in his direction.

"If Banner was hired, I'm going too. Listen, I saw how out of shape Harri was when she first arrived at the tower. Y'all need a physical education teacher. You don't want a bunch of obese little kids running around do you," he'd demanded.

Harri had facepalmed, but Dumbledore had also seemed impressed with the super spy's abilities. Clint was hired on a provisional basis.

His fist shot into the air in celebration.

"Dumbledore, you can't seriously be considering bringing two muggles to Hogwarts," McGonagall protested.

"They'll be killed their first day," Moody snarled. Most of the wizards for nodding their heads.

Dumbledore spread his hands, "My friends, we are in the middle of a war about the blood suprememcy. What better time than now to explore the talents of the nonmagical worlds?"

Harri was eventually forced to go with Dumbledore and his little gang. They had introduced the pink haired woman as Tonks, and she was charged with following Harri to collect her stuff from her room. Back with the others, she wasn't even able to say a proper goodbye to her friends. She knew they would take it the wrong way if she hugged any of the men goodbye, so she just waved goodbye. There was nothing she was allowed to do to say goodbye to the others who weren't there. Harri already felt the annoyance of all the control and manipulation.

"Write us letters," Tony called, "I want to figure out how owl post even works."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Break~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Harri stared around the dark building in distaste. The house elf heads lining the wall were particularly disgusting. She could only imagine what Hermione's reaction would be like if she was brought here.

"Welcome to my family home, pup," Sirius said with a sarcastic sweep of his arms.

"You grew up here?" Harri asked in surprise.

"Yep, left as soon as I could. Moved in with James and never came back. At least, until after Azkaban," Sirius broke off.

Sirius led to her to the library with just Remus, the adult Weasleys, and Dumbledore. Harri knew she was in for it as soon as the doors were shut and privacy charms in place.

"Where have you been?" Mrs. Weasley demanded as she wrapped in the teen in another hug.

Harri ran a hand through her hair and noticed it was longer than it had ever been before, months of running and then not paying attention during the month at the tower had let it grow quite long.

"Uh India most of the time," she said.

"India?" they all cried.

It took a lot of explaining. And Mrs. Weasley kept crying and Sirius and Remus looked like they were going to make something explode. The men eventually left leaving her alone with Mrs. Weasley. Harri got the feeling they thought she was hiding parts of her adventures.

To be fair, she was, but it was actually about her magical powers. She just said that her wand wasn't working right anymore, but she could sometimes will it to do stuff if she had really strong emotions. She didn't say about how powerful but weird her magic had been acting.

She'd once described it to the Avengers as going from a fillet knife to a broadsword. Her magic was much more powerful and could do things it never could have with a wand, but it lacked any finesse. She might be able to crush an entire army with a wave of her hand, but she couldn't lift a feather by itself. Instead, she would send every item in the room shooting through the air with little control over where they went. Bruce and her had been working on control and meditation, but progress was slow.

She realized she had fallen into her thoughts again when Mrs. Weasley placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. She flinched and didn't miss the look that went through Mrs. Weasley's eyes.

Unfortunately, Harri had a feeling the adults had a different opinion about what she was hiding.

"Sweetie, sometimes things happen to us that are outside of our control. You know that right?" she began.

Harri nodded.

"And sometimes bad men do things, they take advantage of situations. When things like that happen, it is not the girl's fault. None of us would think less of you, but we need to know now so we can get you help. We don't want a person like that in a school with lots of children," Mrs. Weasley continued.

Harri didn't need long to realize what Mrs. Weasley was insinuating, "Nothing like that happened! No one touched me or...or...or raped me or whatever else you're trying to imply."

"Harri, dear, we found you living with men who are much older than yourself. You spent months alone with them," Mrs. Weasley said.

"Nothing happened!" Harri cried, sick of people implying stuff.

"Still dear, if something happened, you know you can tell us, right?" she insisted.

Harri shook her head quickly, "Yes, yes, of course Mrs. Weasley. Now, maybe I could have some supper? I'm pretty hungry."

Luckily the mention of food worked enough that Mrs. Weasley promised they would continue their discussion later. Harri wasn't surprised to find Sirius and Remus waiting outside of the library. At least Remus had the decency to look ashamed. Sirius was unrepentant as he stood from where he had been listening through the keyhole.

Harri had huffed past them in her anger.

Just like that, her peaceful time at the Avengers ended.


	3. Chapter 3

Food.

It was the first item on her list. She was hungry, but not so hungry, not the locked in the cupboard for a week with only stale bread hungry. She figured she could go the whole day without eating.

But Bruce was hungry.

He didn't do well without food, and he seemed concerned by her lack of worry about food.

So food, top priority everyday.

She walked up to the stall, "Food."

The stall owner started waving his hand over his stall in quick Hindi. She didn't understand any of it. She sighed and walked away.

Walking was sometimes the answer.

And walking...

And walking...

Walking...

Walking...

Bruce grabbed her shoulder and spun her around, "Harri, where have you been?"

She blinked at him, but something felt off. Her feet were tired and a weight was dragging her arms down. She glanced down instead of answering him. Her arms were filled with fruits. The sun was low in the sky.

"Food?" she offered as she held up the fruit.

Bruce frowned, "Where did you get all of this stuff? You've been gone way longer than just going to the market."

She didn't know where she had been, so she just relaxed. Her brain went back to the quiet place, but her feet started to lead them.

Past the edges of the village, into the rainforest. The scientist side of Bruce must have taken over, because he didn't make her turn around. Instead, they walked in silence. Harri wondered how her feet knew where to walk. Was her magic directing them?

A part of her mind was distracted trying to remember another time she had walked through a forest. It had been dark like this. Something bad at happened.

"Unicorns," she whispered.

Bruce looked at her, "In India?"

She frowned, "Course not. Tropical not unicorn."

"Oh of course, my mistake. Unicorns just don't live in rainforests," he muttered.

"Silly," she tossed a star fruit at him before her feet stopped. She looked down at him before looking up. She grinned. The branches of the tree were hanging with the weight of the fruit on it.

"Fruit!"

Bruce sighed, "But how did you get it down? You know what, never mind. Let's head back to the hut."

"Bad?" she asked.

Bruce met her eyes, "No! Not at all, this is pretty wild parts of the jungle. I doubt anyone but the monkeys will notice the missing fruit. I'm just tired."

"Hungry," she said.

Bruce rolled his eyes, "OK, maybe a bit grumpy from hunger too. You don't have to point out all my flaws."

She juggled the fruits to free a finger and jabbed his side. Then she scampered away before he could react. Suddenly her foot was caught, and she was lying on the jungle forest surrounded by fruit.

As she started to gather it up, she brought her face close to the jungle floor looking for the fruit.

Bruce had ran over to her, but he paused as he watched her gathering the fruit.

"Harri, do you need glasses?" he asked.

She paused as memories of pushing up glasses as they slid down her nose.

Did she need glasses? Was that a missing piece? Should the world not look blurry?

A week later, Bruce was looking at samples of the local water, "I only want you drinking bottled water or stuff we boiled, alright?"

She swiped his glasses from his face and perched them on her face. He reached out for them, but she swiftly dodged out of his grasp.

"Blurry!" she called happily as she brought her face close to the test vials filled with various water samples. Bruce's reading glasses didn't help her to see far away, but they amused her now that she remembered that she needed glasses.

"Yes, yes, I need to get you to an eye doctor. They're kind of in short supply in the area," Bruce grumbled.

"Harri!"

Voices shouted, jerking Harri from her memories.

She immediately rose to her feet to address the people interrupting her meditating.

A tall red head and bushy haired girl barrowled into her room. She was encased in a hug. Laughter burst from her lips for a minute as she embraced her friends. Then Hermione drew back slightly and was scolding her.

"Harriet Jamie Potter, where have you been for six months? Why didn't you tell us where you were going?" Hermione put on her teacher voice.

Harri didn't believe her ears, "Why didn't I tell YOU? Why didn't you guys write when I was stuck at the Dursley's?"

"Mate, Dumbledore said not to," Ron said.

"I was alone! And scared! Cedric had just died. I watched Voldemort come back to life. And MY SUPPOSED BEST FRIENDS COULDN'T BE BOTHERED TO WRITE BECAUSE THE SCHOOL HEADMASTER SAID N-n-no-no-not t-t-t-t-to?" Harri was stuttering again. She was so much better, but still not perfect. Strong emotions tended to show her weaknesses.

They shared a look with each other before sitting on her bed. Harri kept her back to them. She started to run through the calming exercises that Bruce had taught her. Losing her temper at everyone wasn't an option anymore. It wouldn't solve the problems and it hadn't made Hermione and Ron sorry for what they did. It had just revealed a weakness. She couldn't make the same mistake with an enemy like Malfoy.

She wondered what Bruce would say now? Probably something about them being regular teenagers and it was no excuse but they honestly didn't understand.

Harri didn't realize that she had gotten stuck in her thoughts again until Ron placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Mate, what happened to you?" he asked.

As she brushed her fringe back in annoyance, her extended scar was revealed. The lightning bolt that now extended up into her hairline. Still red and raised.

Ron whistled.

Hermione looked stricken, "Oh Harri, what happened?"

Harri sighed.

Where to even begin?

She wasn't surprised that the other members of the Golden Trio didn't understand. She hadn't explained everything, but their reactions had been predictable. Ron had been affronted that she hadn't immediately gone to him for help, and Hermione had already been thinking through how to research what happened.

At the last minute, she decided not to tell them about her magic. She wasn't sure why, but something told her not to, and she trusted her gut more than anything.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Time Break~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Now, all three were sitting silently in a carriage on the way back to Hogwarts.

"Who's the defense professor?" Harri asks.

Hermione and Ron share a look again.

"She doesn't know," Hermione says.

Ron sounds more aghast, "She doesn't know."

"What don't I know?"

Both are trying to get Harri to fully grasp the horribleness of the Umbridge situation. Harri isn't sure she completely gets it, but she shudders all the same. Still, she couldn't be worse than Loki or the chitauri.

Or a drunk Tony for that matter.

It's unfortunate that Harri finds herself proven wrong.

Umbridge is bad muju. Way up there with dementors and Aunt Petunia's holiday pie.

Harri finds herself being stared at through the entire post Christmas welcome feast. By most of the people in the Great Hall, but for very different reasons.

"They let Potty come back? Did you finally pass your sanity tests?" Malfoy called as the students filed in.

"Hello, Malfoy," she said mildly as she looked over the food choices. She was used to a nearly vegetarian diet from her time in India, and after that, she would occasionally indulge in super greasy foods in America. Nothing offered really caught her new tastes and she sighed.

Malfoy looked confused by her response, but he was pushed to his table by the flow of the students. He continued to glare at her in suspicion and curiosity.

It was easy to block him out, most of the students were staring at her. Some looked friendly then others.

Several of the teachers were looking at her too.

Snape was glaring at her like her return had been a personal insult to him.

When she met his eyes, she was surprised to feel the pressure on her brain. Then her shields went from blocking an intrusion to going on offensive. Snape grabbed his forehead, and she knew he had just tried to read her mind.

She immediately turned down the table to where she was happy to find Bruce and Clint sitting. She happily waved at them, and Clint waved back. Bruce just sent her a small smile that said he was uncomfortable with how many people were staring at him as well. She was amused to see that they were both dressed in their normal garb with open robes covering the outfits.

Then she became serious.

~Snape tried to read my mind!~ she discreetly signed at them.

~Snake?" Clint asked.

She fingerspelled his name, ~ E, teacher.~

Both men looked angry then, but they had to cut their conversation short as Dumbledore stood up.

"Students, welcome back from the Christmas holidays. I trust that everyone enjoyed their time with family. I have a few exciting announcements for the start of term. Dr. Banner has kindly agreed to fill in for Professor Burbage, so muggle studies will be resuming," he paused to allow applause for Bruce.

Harri immediately started clapping loudly, but she was the only one among the polite applause of the other students.

Dumbledore continued, "And we will be adding a new class this term. Mr. Barton will be starting a physical fitness class. All years will take it twice a week."

There was a lot of whispering as the students tried to figure out what that meant, but Harri clapped again.

"The other rules of the school remain as normal, but there-"

"Hem, hem," broke through Dumbledore's speech.

Harri's mouth dropped. Despite his manipulations, Dumbledore was the most highly respected wizard she had ever met. A person doesn't just interrupt while he's talking. She turned to Hermione and Ron, but they just looked resigned.

"Has this happened before?" she hissed at them.

Ron nodded, "First night back, right after sorting."

They turned back as Umbridge started speaking, "Has this new class been sanctioned by the ministry?"

Dumbledore smiled, "Of course, Amelia Bones has signed a document stating how the course would be beneficial in encouraging additional aurors. Many careers require an aptitude test. We want to ensure that Hogwarts graduates are eligible for any career that they wish, right Dolores?"

Umbridge hemed, "As the High Inquisitor, I will have to review any curriculum."

The Slytherins laughed.

"We'll never have to worry about that class," Harry heard one of them mutter. She glared at them.

"Of course, Professor Umbridge, we will go over it together later. If I may continue? Yes, good, as I was saying, all other school rules remain the same. Students, you may head to your dorms now."

Both Umbridge and Dumbledore sat back down, and the students prepared to head to their dormitories.

"So Potter, do they have ya on meds?" Seamus asked loudly. Many of the students turned to them.

Harri looked her Irish classmate in surprise, "No? Why would you think that?"

"Well, me mum reckons you must have gone crazy after what happened with Cedric, and then you missed the first part of the year. I guessed they had you locked up somewhere until the right drug cocktail to be allowed in public," he said.

Harri's fists clenched, but that was the only sign of her anger, "Aren't you a little old to be listening to everything your mummy says?"

Several of the students laughed as she shouldered her way to the front of the pack. The scowl on Seamus' face suggested things weren't over yet.

She expected it from the Slytherins, but not her own housemates.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Time Break~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

By the end of the first week, Harri wished she had stayed hidden in New York for the rest of her life.

She grabbed Clint's shoulder as he walked past, "Hey, can you help me sneak into Bruce's room?"

"Why don't you just take his class?" he asked. He glanced at the hand she cradled to her chest, but didn't press her.

She growled, "McGonagall said I couldn't just join a class in the middle of my fifth year. I reminded her that I was raised by muggles and could easily pass the Muggle Studies NEWT. She replied that I wouldn't need the class then. Regardless, I just started going to his class without her permission. I think Dumbledore must have done something, because she didn't come to drag me out."

"Why do you need in his rooms then? You know he won't like that," he smiled.

She grinned back, "And you only do what Bruce likes? I just need a place to work on my meditating that's safe from any students or teachers."

"Technically Bruce is your official teacher now," Bruce said.

"Are you going to help me or not, Hawkeye?"

Bruce wasn't surprised to find the extra small teenager curled in a mound of blankets on his couch or Hawkeye sharpening his arrow heads at the dinette. He simply sighed and shuffled Harri slightly so that he could fit on the couch too.

He glanced down at the black hair spilling from the blanket mound, "Bad day?"

Unintelligible mutterings emerged, so Bruce looked at Clint with a raised eyebrow.

"More like bad week, I think," Clint said.

"It's worse than I thought. They're all actually insane, but people keep calling ME crazy!" Harri's head finally emerged. Angry green eyes met Bruce's calm brown ones.

"That Umbridge character is a piece of work," Clint commented.

Bruce frowned as Harri's face pinched in anger, "Don't even get me started on her! She's absolutely evil."

"But she is a political evil," Bruce commented.

"Can we run away to New York?" Harri asked. Bruce rubbed her neck in an attempt to be comforting. His fingers also moved slightly around to check her pulse for a second, selfishly trying to reassure himself. Harri hummed as the cool digits soothed her tense muscles.

"I want to know what's up with the super pale kid?" Clint asked. "Why does he hate you so much?"

"Malfoy? He's hated me since my first train ride to Hogwarts. He wanted to be my friend, but he had just insulted Ron and called him poor. I didn't take kindly to that, and rejected his offer. He's been spiteful ever since," Harri explained.

Then she turned to Bruce, "I ordered some more blankets."

"More? I've already got a pile," he said.

"Listen, I know you've been as cold as me. This drafty stone castle is freezing compared to India," Harri said.

He rolled his eyes.

Clint had a smirk on his face, "If y'all slept together like at the Tower, you might not need as many blankets. Combined body heat and all."

Harri threw a couch pillow at him, which he smoothly dogged, while Bruce huffed indignantly.

"How did you even know?" Bruce asked.

"Super spy, remember?" Clint asked haughty.

"So tell me about your guys' classes, how did they go?" Harri asked.

"These wizards are in worse shape than I was expecting," Clint complained.

Harri grinned, she had loved the two classes with the archer. Every morning, the two went for a run around the lake before most of the class was even awake. She was thankful for all the training he had already put her through.

The first class was on Tuesday morning. The fifth years from all of the houses met on the pitch, but it clearly wasn't ready for Quidditch. Someone had set up a muggle style training course. Harri thought it looked like the military ads she occasionally saw on the TV during her time in New York.

Each student had to individually run through the obstacle course.

Harri was one of the only ones to finish the entire thing.

It wasn't just being able to run or do a lot of pushups. The flexibility and dodging were rough too. Harri suspected that Clint had somehow roped a professor into helping him set up a few of the activities.

All of the fifth years left the course sweating and complaining. Malfoy, with a large glob of mud stuck in his white blonde hair was threatening to call his father.

"Kid, you are way too old to be calling Daddy for help," Clint yelled as the teen stalked off the course.

"This isn't over!" Draco called.

"Whatever," scoffed Barton.

Of course, this led to Umbridge coming to view the class on Thursday.

"We will be starting conditioning. I have a poster here with the physical requirements for several different career paths such as the Aurors or Curse Breaking. I also have a hand out for each of you that has all of the information. With that in mind, we will be averaging out the requirements and using that as our goal. Even if you do not have a career in mind that requires certain physical requirements, we also know that staying in shape is crucial for your health. I have a handout from Madam Pomfrey that explains what the average fifteen year old male or female should be able to do in order to be in a healthy physical level," Clint had covered all of his bases.

He figured the toad lady would try something, so he asked the creepy headmaster how to be sure she couldn't do anything to him.

Dumbledore had weird stars in his eyes as he had gone over a list.

It was more work than Clint normally put into such things. He usually made some low level agent cover his paperwork in SHIELD, but this was becoming personal. So he huffed, and got through it.

It was all worth it to see the Umbridge lady hem and haw, but not have anything on him to discredit it. He even had a ministry pamphlet that he handed out that went over physical health.

Harri had laughed the entire introduction, but she was dying with the other students when Clint started the conditioning.

"This is the approved conditioning program of the Aurors. Until you can complete this with ease, we will not work on anything else," Clint snapped.

Hermione looked like she was going to die, and Harri wondered if Neville had asthma.

"Well," Bruce said once Clint was finished explaining that all of the years were out of shape. "These students know almost nothing about science. It's a bit scary really."

Harri nodded from her pile. She wasn't surprised.

"What did you start with?" Clint asked.

"Just a pretest to check their levels. The muggle borns have issues with anything beyond sixth grades, and the wizard borns know almost nothing," Bruce said in exasperation.

Harri had spent her free periods hiding in Bruce's classroom, acting as an assistant. Even she had been surprised with how little the wizarding borns had known.

"What is the opposite of a base? Why do we have seasons? What are the steps to the scientific method?" blank stares all around.

One brave student raised his hand, "Well, I think the sun moves away from us during the winter, so we have shorter days, and different seasons."

He was sixteen years old.

Bruce put his fingers to his forehead as though he had a headache.

The other classes didn't go much better.

"What about you?" Clint asked Harri.

She groaned.

"I have detention already."

"What?" both males questioned. Bruce looked surprised while Clint looked gleeful.

"Umbridge," she muttered.

They both nodded in understanding.

"Why?" Clint asked.

Harri's face darkened as she recounted the tale of her first defense class.

"Pull out your books and read chapter 13," Umbridge said from the front of the class. Hermione and Ron had already warned her about Umbridge's teaching strategies, so Harri quietly took out her book as well.

Umbridge seemed surprised by this, and Harri felt a vindictive pleasure that she wasn't playing into Umrbidge's hand yet.

It was about halfway through the class that Umbridge made her move.

Harri had been checking over some of her formulas for a project that Bruce had her do when the papers suddenly flew off her desk. They headed straight to the teacher's desk where she shuffled through them quickly.

"So, Ms. Potter, thought you could work on something else in class?" she asked.

"I've already finished the chapter," Harri said in a measured voice.

"Then you should have reread it. There is certainly no reason to be working on muggle work in the middle of my class. Out of all students, I thought you would take defense seriously," Umbridge said in her sickly sweet voice.

The blood in Harri's veins turned to ice, "What do you mean by that?"

"Well, with the lies that certain people have been spreading around, I thought you would be clamoring to learn to defend yourself. Unless you admit that the rumors are lies and there is no reason for students to know how to defend themselves?"

Harri glared at the pink professor. She knew what the professor was doing, but she couldn't stop herself. Bruce was going to be dissapointed.

"Cedric needed to know how to defend himself," she replied.

Umbridge smiled at her, "Mr. Diggory's death was an accident. And we can all agree that the Tri-wizard tournament is a special event that would not affect all students. He knew the risks when he signed up to be a contestant."

"It wasn't the Tri-wizard Tournament that killed him," Harri replied quietly.

"Lies," Umbridge returned.

"It was Voldemort," Harri continued.

Umbridge's voice started to raise, "Detention tonight for lying to a professor."

Harri seethed in her seat for the rest of class before hurrying to Professor McGonagall.

Professor McGonagall had been no help, so Harri reported to Professor Umbridge's office.

Harri suddenly broke off her story, and Clint and Bruce shared a glance before turning to her.

"What did she make you do in detention?" Bruce asked.

"Just lines," muttered Harri.

"Why were you holding your hand early?" Clint asked. He hadn't planned on questioning the girl about something she clearly didn't want to share, but now he felt he needed to.

Bruce moved the blankets to reach the teen inside, "Harri, are you hurt?"

Harri pulled the last remaining blanket tighter around her, "No."

"Harri," Bruce was almost growling. He allowed the Hulk to blend into his sense slightly and took a deep breath. "You smell like blood."

"It's nothing, just lines."

Bruce tugged her right hand from the blanket, and spotted the red mark across it. That was where the blood smell was coming from.

"What happened?" he demanded, no longer asking.

Harri scowled at the ground, "She had a special quill. I asked her where the ink was, but she just told me to start writing. When I did, it used my blood as the ink. She made me write like a thousand lines. Said the message hadn't sunk in yet, so I have to go back tomorrow."

"That can't be legal," Clint sounded as angry as he had been about Loki. She knew he was sensitive about hurting children.

Harri shrugged, "I don't know, but she's a ministry employee, I doubt she'd have anything illegal. And she has to have been giving detentions to other students, but no one has stopped her."

Bruce wanted to let the Hulk out to smash the evil woman, but he knew that wouldn't help. He and Clint shared a look as Harri bundled deeper into the blankets.

It was already very late, well past curfew, but Bruce didn't make the others leave. Harri napped peacefully on the couch while Bruce read a book and Clint switched to sharpening his knives. Eventually, he did walk Harri back to the tower.

He grabbed her shoulder outside the painting of the Fat lady, "Listen, let me know how detention goes tomorrow."

She looked at him and smiled, "Course I will."

The following evening, Umbridge kept Harri until midnight. By this point, the cut had stopped healing, and a drop of blood was oozing from it slowly. The words could be seen in a red outline.

"Evil," Bruce said as he bandaged the wound. He had apparently gone to Madam Pomfrey requesting something for a cut, and she had given him Essence of Dittany. Harri hissed as it first hit the cut, but then relaxed as it soothed the soreness. Bruce counted the pulse in her wrist to keep from Hulking Out. He hated feeling so defenseless.

He didn't make the teen return to the Gryffindor tower for a half hour, but he knew she had to. So Clint offered to take her up to make sure she didn't get in trouble.

Umbridge only made her return to one more detention.

"Let me check if the message has...sunk in yet," Umbridge said with a little girl giggle. She rubbed her finger over the steadily bleeding cut on Harri's hand, where the words, "I will not lie," were gouged into her skin.

Harri wasn't surprised if it scarred there.

"Looks pretty deep, I suppose you can come back again if you haven't gotten it yet," Umbridge said.

Harri noticed that the clock said 1:00am as she headed to Bruce's quarters.

The Essence of Dittany burned even worse this time. The blood filled the back of the bandage slightly.

That night, Harri refused to head back to the Tower.

"Please don't make me," she pleaded with Bruce. He hesitated, he wasn't sure what sort of notifications they had on his quarters.

"Are there surveillance charms on my quarters?" he finally asked.

HarrI used her special form of magic to check. She spotted a thin trail leading back to Dumbledore's office. She willed her magic to cover the tracking magic and say that she had left the room and returned to Gryffindor tower.

"It's taken care of," she said as she opened her eyes.

Bruce sighed, but didn't force the teen to leave.

Clint laughed at the both of them.

Bruce and Harri fell asleep on the couch, Harri still tucked into her bundle, and Bruce's hand laying on her neck where he had rubbed circles until he too fell asleep.

Clint wondered what they would do. This magical school was strange territory for the super spy and the doctor. Were they even helping Harri at all?

When Clint saw that Harri looked more rested in the morning than she had since they had gone to the school, he knew they were helping. He knew she did not have nightmares while sleeping in the private quarters.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Time Break~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Harri wasn't really surprised to find herself spending more time with Clint and Bruce than her classmates. She'd always been a little different from her peers, a little more serious, but the differences were more pronounced than ever. Between the graveyard, her brain, and the battle of New York, Harri often felt herself slipping into a quiet thoughtfulness.

While most of the school was still asleep, she would wake up and run with Clint. They varied their path everyday, because Clint was worried about ambushes.

"Can't be too routine, makes it easy to plan an attack," he said. She rolled her eyes at him.

Then she spent her free periods hiding away in Bruce's classroom as his assistant or in his rooms.

It only took Malfoy three weeks to discover that emotions triggered some aspects from her brain damage.

"Look, it's p-p-p-Potty," he taunted her in the hallways, "When will they send you back to the asylum?"

Surprisingly, it was Neville who comforted her.

"Just ignore him," Neville told her.

She raised her eyebrows as he sent a mild jinx at Malfoy.

"Who are you, and what have you done with Neville?" she asked teasingly, but dropped the tone when Neville's serious eyes turned to her.

"You know my parents aren't dead, right?" he asked her.

"Uhm, I wasn't sure," she admitted. "I knew your grandmother raised you."

Neville seemed to be somewhere else, but he whispered to her.

"I was only a year old. One of Voldemort's big supporters came and tortured them. She did it for so long that it broke their minds. They've been in the ward in St. Mungos ever since. Professor Lockhart is in with them now," he told her.

Harri felt sick to her stomach. That was so much worse than her situation in many ways. To know your parents were alive but couldn't remember their son.

"I'm so sorry, Neville, I didn't know," she said and placed a hand on his shoulder.

He looked up at her with his soft brown eyes, "Well, I know what crazy looks like, and it's not you."

She felt closer to Neville after that. It ate at her that she'd never really tried to include Neville or figure out why the boy was so shy and anxious.

DA was another problem that she hadn't been expecting.

"You started an illegal self defense class?" she angrily questioned Hermione and Ron.

"We have OWLS this year, we'd never pass with the woman teaching us," Hermione argued.

Ron added in, "And we figured it might be good with you-know-who running around again."

"But you named it Dumbledore's Army. Don't you realize how badly this could all end?" Harri said.

Somehow, she found herself helping out in the meetings. She didn't deny the reasons that Hermione and Ron gave.

Still, the term was passing quickly and it was almost time for the OWLS. Harri didn't worry much that the examiners would realize that she wasn't actually using her wand, but she did worry that she wouldn't pass.

In her classes, Harri waved her wand and said the words, but no magic went through the wand. Instead, she simply willed her magic to do what she wanted.

To some extent it worked.

"Ms. Potter, a little too forceful," Professor Flitwick called again. He waved his wand and the feather removed itself from the stone wall. They were practicing the summoning charm.

Harri blushed, "Sorry professor."

The feather flew at her when she willed her magic to bring it to her, but it came full force and recklessly. She had ducked at the last minute and it had flown past her hard enough to lodge into the stones.

She got similar results with any magic that she performed now.

"Like trying to trace a line with a sledgehammer," she told Clint and Bruce about her magic troubles.

Career counseling was a stressful time.

"Tell them you have already been hired as a bonus Avenger, full time work," Clint said around a mouthful of sandwich.

"Where did you get a reuben sandwich in Hogwarts?" Harri asked.

Clint grinned at her, "I discovered the tiny green creatures. Apparently they love to please. Anyway, Avenger."

"She is not an Avenger," Bruce quipped from where he was grading a pile of lab reports.

Harri grabbed his glasses and swiped them with her own, "Puh-lease, I am totally an Avenger now. The mysterious masked witch."

"To be fair to Bruce, you don't have a code name yet," Clint said.

Harri glared at him as she dodged Bruce's grasping hand, "Whose side are you on anyway? And Thor doesn't have a code name. Besides, I want to be a doctor."

Bruce stopped to look at her, "Seriously?"

She smiled at him, "Dead serious, I got to tag along with the best doctor in the world for a while and I want to help people like that too. Though I'd like to get my wizarding healing credentials too. And I'll need your help a lot if I'm ever going to pass doctorate school and all."

He looked down, "Well, I guess I can tutor you for a few more years."

She grinned at him as she headed to the meeting with McGonagall. Umbridge sitting on a chair beside McGonagall put a slight damper on her good mood.

"Ms Potter, thank you for being on time," McGonagall said.

She inclined her head, "Of course professor."

"Now, we are here to discuss your career choice. Your classmates have informed me that you have been considering Auror training like your father," McGonagall began. Harri tried to say something, but she didn't want to interrupt the formidable professor.

Umbridge didn't seem to hold the same concerns as she started coughing.

"Now, you will need top marks in all of the core subjects."

"Hem hem."

"And the training"

"Hem hem"

"Takes several-"

"Hem hem."

McGonagall turned to the woman, "Delores, get a drink if your throat is so dry."

Umbridge's mouth opened slightly before her face pinched in a horrible way, "I just wanted to say that Potter does not have nearly high enough grades in my class to be considered for the Auror program."

"Well perhaps the fault lies with the carriage, not the horse pulling it," McGonagall said.

Umbridge glared at her, "Madam, are you trying to insult my teaching abilities?"

Harri decided she had to add in before McGonagall killed the evil woman (no matter how much she liked the idea), "Uhm, professors? I, uh, actually want to be a healer not an Auror."

They both turned their glares on Harri, and she half wished she hadn't said anything.

"Well then you will need to volunteer with Madam Pomfrey, and try to get an apprenticeship with her or another qualified healer," McGonagall said.

"Hem, hem, that is another prestigious position, and I'm sure she doesn't have the grades for it either," Umbridge said.

"The decision there does not lie in her grades, but if the healer is willing to take her on as a student. The point from earlier still stands," Professor McGonagall argued.

"You have no idea what good teaching even looks like. How long has it been since you were in school?" Umbridge snarled.

Professor McGonagall lifted her nose slightly, "Long enough that I can remember your terrible marks on the Transifiguration exams."

Suddenly they were yelling at each Harri. In a rare act of self preservation, Harri snuck out of the office away from the angry witches.

She recounted the tale to Bruce and Clint.

"Don't you have that illegal meeting tonight?" Clint asked a few hours later.

"DA? Crap, I almost forgot," she muttered as she gathered her stuff. She left Bruce's apartment on the sixth floor and hurried up the seventh.

Inside the room, they started working on shielding charms.

Harri smiled, this kind of magic came easily to her.

She imagined how the shield charm should look, and her magic easily replicated it. Different from the exactness required from charms or transfiguration. This was like a battle were a broadsword was needed.

Suddenly, Dobby popped into the middle of the room.

"Ms. Potter, you must leave," Dobby said.

"What?" she asked him. Everyone had stopped at the popping sound, and stared at the two.

"Danger," he managed, then smacked himself, "Bad Dobby."

She grabbed his hands, "Dobby, what's happening? Did the teachers learn about our meetings?"

He nodded and tried to hit his head.

"Dobby, is Umbridge on her way?" Harri asked in growing horror.

He nodded again.

Harri looked up with wide eyes. Everyone seemed stunned.

She was the first to snap out of it, "What are you waiting for? RUN!"

It was chaos as everyone fled from the room.

As Harri ran down a corridor, she felt a trip stop her. Malfoy stood over her.

"I've got one. I got Potter!" he yelled in glee.

The minister was waiting in Dumbledore's office with Umbridge and McGonagall as well as several aurors.

"I caught Potter!" Umbridge said gleefully.

Fudge smiled cruelly, "Well Dumbledore, your golden girl, caught in the act."

Dumbledore watched impassively.

Harri watched in horror as everything went sideways. Marietta Edgecomb came in to testify with the ugly purple pimples spreading across her face saying "Sneak."

Harri was glad that Hermione had at least added protections incase someone ratted them out.

Kingsley had placed a memory charm on Edgecomb at the last minute, so that she refused to say the meetings had been happening for months.

"I haven't even been here for sixth months," Harri argued.

"Shut up," Umbridge had snarled.

Then Dumbledore took claim for the group and was forced to flee.

Clint and Bruce couldn't believe the news.

"Listen, I have serious issues with the coot. One of my biggest issues was the way he just left you with the Dursley's and believes he can control your life. But at least we knew he was against Voldemort and could actually do something to stop him. That Fudge character couldn't fight his way out of a paper bag," Clint complained.

"From what I've seen in the last few months, McGonagall is pretty fierce as well," Bruce said mildly.

"And I know I have you guys defending me," Harri had smiled at them.

"That's right, we can both hide behind big green," Clint had grinned.

"Hey!" he cried out as Bruce's papers smacked his head.

Unfortunately, even the protection of McGonagall didn't last long.

During the night of Harri's astronomy test, she watched in horror as Hagrid fled into the forest and McGonagall took four stunners to the chest. The older woman hit the ground hard and didn't move.

"Madam Pomfrey will fix her up," Hermione said.

They all wondered if that was true.

The next day, during her history of magic test, Malfoy had leaned over to her.

"Your godfather won't be alive for long," he sneered at her.

"What?" she whispered back to him.

The proctor turned her gaze to them as though she could hear them. Once her gaze had turned away, Malfoy leaned over again, "My dad and some of his...coworkers have him in the department of mysteries."

Harri stood straight up.

"Mrs. Potter, can I help you?" the proctor asked in dissaprovement.

Harri looked at her in surprise. She had forgotten she was even in the middle of a test. Her fist tightened around her half finished History of Magic test.

"You still have thirty minutes!" the woman sounded scandalized.

"I'm done," she said and left the room.

She immediately went to the infirmary.

Madam Pomfrey came out, "Mrs. Potter, I was pleasantly surprised to not see you as a patient this semester. I'm afraid I don't have any work for you to help me with now, but I've been really happy about your sudden interest in the healing arts."

Harri tried to smile at the older matron, but didn't think she had succeeded based on the older woman's concerned face.

"I'm sorry to bother you, I just have to talk to Professor McGonagall," Harri said in a rush.

"Well, I'm sorry that I won't be able to help you. I had her transferred to St Mungo's last night. A woman of her age taking four stunners to the chest, she could've died instantly," Madam Pomfrey said with a shake of her head.

"She's not here?" Harri reiterated.

Madam Pomfrey shook her head in the negative.

"Thank you," Harri gasped as she whirled around and headed for Bruce's apartment.

She pounded on his door, "Bruce!"

He opened the door looking like he had been checking papers, glasses stuck in his hair and ink on his nose.

"What's going on?" he asked.

"They have my godfather, Sirius. Voldemort has him at the ministry of magic," she gasped.

He grabbed her arm and pulled her into his quarters, "What are you talking about?"

He pressed a special button that would send a signal to Clint letting him know it was an emergency.

"During History of Magic, Malfoy told me that his father and associates had Sirius at the Department of Mysteries. He had to have meant Voldemort," she said in a rush. Clint arrived through a heating duct as she was explaining.

"But I thought your godfather was completely safe in his "SAFE" house," Clint argued.

Harri pushed back her wild hair in frustration, "He was going crazy in the house. He must have snuck out and been captured."

"None of this really makes sense, why would they take Sirius? And how could they have gotten such a notorious criminal into the headquarters of the magical government in the middle of the day when everyone would be working," Bruce asked.

Harri stopped, "You think it's a trap?"

Both of the men nodded, "Almost definitely."

"But I have to know. What if its not?" she asked them.

They shared a look.

"OK, how could we contact him to see if he's still at the safe house?" Bruce asked.

"The floo system. I could make a call through that, but there will be way too many people in the Gryffindor common room," Harri said.

"Is every fireplace connected to the floo system?" Clint asked.

Harri shook her head, "No, only some of the high ranking teachers. Uhm, Dumbledore's was, but we won't be able to get in there. Oh Umbridge's is! She answered a call when I was in there for detention. And she told us in class that her floo is the only one not being monitored by the ministry. If we use any other fireplace, they'll find out about Sirius."

"So you want to sneak into the office of a professor's who hates you?" Clint clarified.

She nodded, "I have to make sure Sirius is safe."

He sighed, "Come on then."

He led the two through the heating system.

"I've been exploring these since we first arrived. Figured we might need a solid way to get through the castle," he explained.

Harri shuddered as she remembered the Basilisk sliding through the pipes. She was just glad that they were smaller and able to do it silently. Even Bruce was thankful for being smaller than average for a male because it made it easier to slide through the cramped space.

"This one," Clint said and started to unscrew the grate.

When it popped off, the three Avengers jumped down into the room. Bruce put his hands into his pockets, looking awkward.

Harri immediately went over to the fireplace. She grabbed a pinch of the green powder from the mantle and threw it into fire. Calling for Sirius' house, she waited for someone.

"Sirius!" she yelled. "Sirius!"

Kreacher walked by, "Master gone."

"I need to know where he is!" Harri cried.

"Master not in the home," Kreacher repeated.

Harri pulled out of the fireplace, "Kreacher says he's not home."

Clint opened his mouth to say something, but the door to the office swung open at that moment. With a wave of Umbridge's wand, all three were tied to chairs.

"Super spy huh," Harri quipped to Clint.

"Shut up," he said.

"You honestly think I would leave my office without supervision after those nifflers?" she asked them.

"Nifflers?" Bruce asked himself.

"Create a big mess looking for precious metals. A certain...uh person dropped two into the office," Harri told him.

"Be quiet!" Umbridge roared, "You three have not shown me the proper respect since you came to the school in January. Two muggles and an attention seeking brat. Do you even realize who I am?"

"A woman with terrible fashion sense?" Clint asked.

"Three year old stuck in a toad's body?" Harri asked.

"Compensating for something with all that pink?" Bruce asked.

"Shut up! I want to know who you were talking to in the fireplace?" Umbridge said.

"Wait, should I shut up or tell you who I was talking to?" Harri asked.

"Never mind, I don't have time to deal with this," Umbridge said. She walked to the mantle and grabbed a pinch of floo powder.

"Professor Snape, I need you at my office now," she said in a sickly sweet voice.

It took only a few minutes for Snape to arrive at the pink office.

"I need more veritaserum to interrogate Potter. She broke into my office with these muggles to use my floo powder," she said.

Snape looked too gleeful as he smiled at the three, "All three of you will be kicked out of the school for this. Still, did you use the entire bottle already? I said only three drops would do for any drinks during detention."

Harri was suddenly very thankful that she had only pretended to drink the tea Umbridge poured her during detention. Not only would the truth serum make her spill secrets, the idiot woman would probably have poisoned her.

"Well, I may have used the entire bottle. I require more," Umbridge said, an edge creeping into her voice.

Snape inclined his head, "Certainly. It needs to brew through a full moon, so I should have another batch ready in a month."

"A month? I need it now!" Umbridge cried.

Umbridge turned away from the group and muttered to herself.

"I need those answers now. Things need to move forward. Morale is low. Finding Dumbledore would help everyone to trust Fudge," she muttered.

"Snape, padfoot broke out of his dog house," Harri told Snape.

"That's professor snape to you," but his eyes met hers and she felt the pressure again. Her sheilds would block his attempts still.

"Padfoot? What is she talking about Snape?" Umbridge swirled around.

"Based on the fact she mentioned a dog house, I'd say a dog. But why would I understand the drivle that comes from Potters mouth. I'm sure a dog would quickly return to its dog house if it had any intelligence, so it's hardly worth getting expelled from school," Snape replied.

Harri wanted to repeat herself when she suddenly understood his warning. She nodded stiffly and looked down.

"I think there's more going on here," Umbridge said. "Potter, you have been a thorn in my side. I had this great plan for the summer with dementors, but you just up and disapeared two days before I was going to send them to you. Best case, you would have lost your soul, worst case, I could have gotten you expelled."

Umbridge straightened a cat picture as she continued rambling, "But you were just gone. And I had to come to this wretched school. It wasn't too bad until January when you suddenly return and bring two muggles with you. I need you to talk now. Things need to turn around. I'm sure the Minister will understand."

"What?" Harri asked. She felt a pit of dread in her stomach.

"Torture is always good to loosen a tongue," Umbridge said as she smiled. "Crucio."

Harri was aware she was screaming as her body lit on fire.

She wasn't aware of how green Bruce was turning or Clint yelling in anger as she struggled against her restraints. It was good she wasn't fully aware to know that it was Snape that came to her rescue again.

"Umbridge, stop this madness now!" he yelled loudly enough to stop all activity in the room.

Harri panted in short breaths as the curse was stopped. Every nerve in her body felt like it was on fire. Next to Bruce, Clint was glaring at Umbridge. Even if Harri had not explained about the Unforgivables, there was no way they could have misunderstood what those screams meant.

"Snape? I did not think you would mind such measures with your...history," Umbridge said.

Bruce struggled to maintain his control. Harri was in no condition to stop the Hulk now, and she could be accidentally hurt.


	4. Chapter 4

Unfortunately, Bruce felt his control slipping as the Hulk took over. His muscles spasmed as his body changed so drastically. The ties holding him in the chair snapped.

Umbridge and Snape both took a step back in horror.

Bruce hit his fist on the stone floor, and the floor cracked.

Clint struggled to get out of his own bonds. He glanced at Harri lying on the floor, but she still seemed out of it, and he didn't think she would be able to use her special talents to restrain the Hulk.

Suddenly a red light hit the Hulk, and he turned toward the toad.

The Hulk's head tilted slightly as he considered the pink woman who had hurt the tiny human.

He roared in her face.

Umbridge screamed as she turned around and ran.

"HULK SMASH TOAD," he roared as he ran after her.

Clint shook Harri's shoulder, "Come on, squirt, I need you to help me with the Hulk."

Snape came to Harri's other side and pulled a vial from his robes. He started to put it to her lips, but Clint grabbed his wrist with a steel grip.

"What is that?" he asked the greasy professor.

"A potion to help with the nerve damage. I carry them with me everywhere since Voldemort returned," the professor said.

"How can I know you won't poison her like you tried to allow Umbridge to with the truth potion?" Clint questioned.

"I gave her water," Snape sneered. "It might be difficult for someone of your intelligence to realize, but I didn't need Potter sharing my secrets or the Order's."

"Oh, well, take a sip yourself first," Clint said.

Professor Snape sneered at him, but put a small amount onto his own tongue and swallowed. Clint nodded once, and Snape poured the potion down Harri's throat. Clint helped her to sit up as the twitching in her limbs started to stop.

"Heard what you said professor, thanks for not letting her poison me," Harri said. "I didn't drink it either way though."

Snape rolled his eyes, "Is Barton correct that you can control that monster? I was under the impression that magic would not work on him?"

"Yeah, it's an, uh, special skill set," Harri said.

"Well, you'd better hurry then," Snape said.

Clint helped her to stand, and they hurried to follow the trail of destruction. Harri paused in the doorway and turned back to Snape, "Thank you, Professor Snape."

Snape inclined his head the slightest amount, "That curse should not be used. Even on someone so moronic as yourself."

Harri turned and rushed out the door. She still felt weak, but there were more important concerns.

She got outside just in time to see Hulk grab Umbridge and send her soaring through the air toward the Forbidden Forest.

"Float!" she yelled as her arm shot out toward the soaring woman.

She felt her magic take hold of Umbridge's body and soften the throw. Her magic protected the body as best as possible. It may not have been a gentle landing on the forest floor, but Harri was certain she'd live.

Then, the teenager turned to the Hulk.

"S-s-stop it now!" she yelled.

The Hulk turned to her from where he had started heading into the forest.

"Hulk smash toad!" he roared at her.

"I need your help more. Clint and I both need your help. We have to infiltrate the Ministry of Magic," Harri told him.

"How will we even get there?" Clint asked.

The two ignored the Hulk stalking back and forth on the grounds. The green giant grabbed onto a tree and uprooted it before throwing it into the forest after Umbridge. Harri wasn't sure if she wanted it to hit the evil professor or not.

"What about the thestrals?" Harri asked.

"Are they the creepy skeletal things that pulled the carriages? I'm not sure one of them could hold the Hulk," Clint said.

Harri weighed the options, "Possibly not."

Clint snapped his fingers, "I've got it! Almost forgot that Tony packed some equipment for us just in case. If we go outside the wards before we activate it, I think it will be OK. It's been turned off the entire time, so hopefully the magic won't have been able to fry it."

Harri nodded, she turned and started to walk toward the ward border, but she tripped over a stone on the ground. Clint went to support her, but Hulk scooped her up in a large green fist.

Harri smiled at her green friend in thanks.

Hulk shrugged, "Tiny human weak."

On the outside of the wards, Clint pulled a small, metallic rectangle from an inner pocket of his black uniform. He pressed a smooth spot on the top and sat it on the ground. The box rapidly expanded and spread out on the ground until four Iron suits lay in front of the group. Two of the suits were clearly intended for Bruce or Hulk depending on the form he was in.

Hulk sat down Harri, and they each put on their suits.

Snape came rushing out to the grounds, "Potter, what do you think you are doing?"

"I've got to save Sirius," she told him defiantly.

"Sirius is not in danger you moronic child," he snarled at her. His eyes showed fear when the Hulk took a menacing step toward him. "This is a trap."

Harri shrugged, "Maybe, but I have to be sure."

"This is like asking to die," Snape snarled at her.

"You could come with us if you want? No one would be able to know who you are in the suit, so your position wouldn't be compromised," Harri offered him hesitantly.

"Be quiet! You can never know whose ears are listening in," The man paused in his tirade, "Well, I would simply stun you, but I believe Banner would kill me. I suppose I have no choice. It would be bad for all of us if the Girl-Who-Lived died before defeating Voldemort."

He looked down at the metal suits that Harri, Clint, and the Hulk were stepping into.

"We have an extra," Harri said. "Tony wasn't sure if we would need a Hulk sized suit or a Bruce sized suit, so he packed both for us."

Snape sent off a Patronus with a message telling Dumbledore what was happening.

Then, he growled but stepped hesitantly toward the suit. As it fit itself around him, he accidentally set off the thrusters and blew into a tree. The face plate seemed to protect him though.

"How do I control this infernal device?" he growled as he knocked the tree over.

"Lean into it!" Harri yelled from the sky.

The group must have made a strange sight flying in the London sky. Harri had never been so thankful before that Tony had added in cloaking features. Snape managed a zigzag flight that straightened up some as he adjusted to the suit of iron. The Hulk didn't necessarily fly so much as he took giant leaps that easily kept pace with the ones flying in the sky.

"We'll have to let Tony know that the Hulk is not a fan of flying," Clint used the intercom to tell Harri.

"Yes," she agreed, but her mind was filled with anxiety. What would they find at the Ministry? Would they be OK?"

"Hey kid, it'll be fine," Clint said.

She looked over at him, "Yeah I know."

"And check it out, Tony added giant metal arrows to my suit," Clint sounded excited as he showed her the metal quiver strapped to his back. "Dude, I think there's a collapsible bow here too."

"Wouldn't make much sense to have arrows and no bow, Hawkeye," Harri rolled her eyes. "Professor Snape, are you there?"

"Clearly," Snape's voice drawled.

"We need to use codenames from here on out. Clint is Hawkeye. Bruce is obviously in Hulk form," Harri said but then paused, "Uh, I don't technically have a codename yet, and we need one for you too."

"Scarface," Snape drawled.

"For you or me?" Harri asked then felt relieved that no one could see her blush.

"Potter, use your miniscule brain for one second," Snape sounded even more exasperated than normal.

"Right, well whatever, it's just for the one mission," Harri said in a sulky voice.

"Scarface, sounds dangerous," Clint said, "Big guy, did you hear that?"

"Tiny human Scarface," Hulk's voice sounded.

"Right, well what about you Snape?" Clint asked.

Snape's voice took a few minutes to reply, "I suppose you could call me Prince."

"Think highly of yourself huh?" Clint asked sarcastically.

"It was my mother's maiden name, and I can't imagine any of the Death Eaters would make the connection. It would have been the current Death Eater's parents who would have known her," Snape's voice clearly said that the discussion was over. Harri was curious about the sour professor, but knew not to push her luck.

"One other thing, Harri, Snape, are you wearing masks?" Clint asked.

"Now we are," Snape said with a wave of his wand, Harri could feel a mask similar to the one she wore in New York settle onto her face. Something felt off with her hair too, but she didn't have time to figure out what. "We have arrived."

They flew into a small, dark alley. Once they were on solid ground, they turned off the cloaking device on their suits. Hawkeye leaned over and hit the appropriate button on Snape's suit. He got a glare for his efforts.

"Over here," Snape snarled as he lead them to a small red phone booth.

All three looked at the Hulk and back to the tollbooth.

"Does it grow?" Clint asked.

The three humans went into the booth first. There was much grunting and complaining as the Hulk shoved his way in none-too-gently. All four fit, but there was no extra room between the walls and their bodies.

"What do we have to press?" Harri asked, trying to cover her nose to block the stink of sweat.

"Big guy, next time you have to wear some deodorant," Clint complained.

"Hulk NO SMELL!" the Hulk roared as Snape hurried pushed the combination, 62442. Harri filed the number away in case they needed it in the future.

They were all glad to tumble out of the small booth when the lift stopped moving.

Harri took a deep breath, "Seriously, I'm putting Tony on developing a stronger deodorant."

The Hulk took a swipe at her with his giant green hand, but Harri was about to roll out of the way.

"We need to get to the Department of Mysteries," Harri announced as she stood back up .

"This way," Snape lead the way, each of his steps reverberating in the large empty hall.

"I guess the wizards head home as soon as the clock strikes 5," Clint commented on the empty building.

They quickly reached a round chamber with many doors. When all four were in the room, it started to spin. Harri's hit the floor on her hands and knees. Hawkeye was groaning, and the Hulk sounded like he might puke.

"Any idea which door we came in from?" Hawkeye asked.

Harri shook her head.

"Let's try the one on the left then," he suggested as he reached for the handle.

Inside were row after row of what looked like brains, each in its own clear glass jar, suspended in some sort of clear liquid.

The three regular sized humans led the way. Harri felt uneasy about the Hulk being surrounded by so much glass, but she didn't have long to worry about that.

Suddenly a red light shot through the glass jars. It would have hit Harri straight in the chest if a shield had not appeared in front of her. She nodded her thanks at Snape, knowing he was the only one who could have done it.

"Focus," he snarled, his voice sounding strange, completely unlike himself.

More bodies will coming into the brain chamber, all shooting magical spells at the four. The Hulk roared and swung his arms, knocking jars over. Most of them broke and the brains seemed to lay harmlessly on the floor.

Harri could feel her suit starting to seize up as the magic interfered with the electronics.

"Get out of the suits," she yelled as she disabled her own suit. Her own voice sounded different as well; she figured Snape must have cast some sort of spell to disguise their voices. She felt horribly exposed as the metal dropped to the ground behind her, unable to protect her any longer.

Around her, the other two allowed their suits to collapse off of them while the Hulk ripped his off. She was suddenly thankful that they'd had the forethought to wear masks.

The fight seemed to be fairly evenly matched and neither side gained much ground until the Hulk threw one of the Death Eaters into a large tank holding brains. A sort of tentacle came up out of the water and wrapped itself around the man. He immediately started screaming horrible, pained sounds.

"New game, don't touch the tentacles," Hawkeye yelled.

The man seemed to have awoken the others because five foot long tentacles started lashing in the air around the holding tanks.

"Come on," Harri yelled as she ran through the door.

The Hulk smashed the door as they entered the round chamber, stopping the Death Eaters from joining them that way. Harri had a feeling there were unfortunately other ways around the Department. The room spun again, but not nearly as fiercely as the first time. The one smashed door seemed to be catching at the rotating system.

"Believe it was a trap now, Scarface?" Snape asked sarcastically.

"They still might have Padfoot," Harri insisted.

Snape seemed to grab a door at random and opened it. He went to step through the door but immediately grabbed at the doorway. Harri and Clint accidentally pushed him through, and he started to float away, but a large green hand grabbed the back of his robes and pulled him back in.

Clint slammed the door, "Does that door lead to outer space?"

Harri shrugged, "Hopefully just a replica?"

Snape growled as he grabbed another door handle, "Don't push me through this time."

Inside this one were time turners like the one Hermione had used in third year. They were all different sizes, and Harri wondered if the size affected the power.

Against the wall was a bell jar. Inside was a toad. Harri watched in horror as the toad turned back into a tadpole, flopping on the dry bottom. It slowly aged again back into the toad.

She turned to the Hulk, "Don't touch-"

It was too late, the Hulk overturned an entire shelf of time turners. They crashed onto the floors, their sands spilling out. Two of the Death Eaters were in the way of the flow. The magically charged sand had a strange affect on the two men.

One seemed to immediately start to age. The hair tumbling out the back of his mask turn grey and then fell out. He stumbled to his knees, and then hit the ground clutching his chest.

Harri watched in horror as the other Death Eater seemed to have the opposite reaction. He started to shrink and grow smaller like a child. His mask fell off, and she watched as his features got younger and younger. Eventually it was a baby laying before them, far too young to be out of a mother's womb.

Clint and Harri were both transfixed as the baby that had been the enemy only seconds before seemingly died before them.

The distraction turned out to be a mistake though.

Harri winced as she heard the crack as the light connected with Hawkeye's arm. She was thankful it was just a bludgeoning curse and not the Killing Curse. At least he didn't seem too bothered by his limp arm as he used the good arm to sling the bow across his back and start to pull out throwing knives.

She smiled as one of the Death Eaters fell from a well aimed knife.

"This way," she yelled as she spotted a door on the other side. The four made their way through the door.

On the other side was a strange room with a lowered area in the center. In the middle of it was a door frame that seemed to have a tattered curtain hanging from it. Harri watched as it moved as though from a breeze even though the rest of the room was completely stilled.

Harri felt herself drawn to it.

"Stay away from the veil at all costs," Snape's disguised voice cut through her attention, and Harri turned her attention back to the fight at hand.

Even though they were greatly outnumbered, the four had been holding their own. The only injury was Clint's arm.

Then something happened to change the flow.

Harri had been in a duel with a Death Eater when a floating object in the corner of her vision caught her attention. She knocked out the enemy in front of her and turned just in time to spot a Death Eater levitating one of the tanks of tentacle brains over the Hulk's turned back.

He dropped it onto the Hulk as she screamed a warning.

The Hulk turned towards her, but the tentacles were already wrapping around him.

The Hulk started screaming.

It was a loud roar, unlike anything she had heard from the Hulk before, filled with pain. The worst part was the scream started to bleed with the sound of Bruce's voice as though the tentacle creature was pulling Bruce's conscious to the front.

Harri was immediately running towards him, waving her hand to send cut the tentacles off of him. The tentacles started to fall in severed pieces to the ground until they were all off, but it seemed to be too late. The Hulk dropped to the ground holding his head.

Harri's distraction proved to be exactly what the Death Eaters wanted as one of them grabbed her by her hair.

Her head was jerked sharply backward as her running was immediately stopped. Tears stung her eyes as her hands reached up and grabbed the hand holding onto her hair.

She would recognize the platinum blonde hair spilling from behind the Death Eater mask anywhere.

"Stop!" Lucius Malfoy commanded and the fight in the room momentarily halted. "Now, the hair looks different, but I would be almost certain that you are Harri Potter. Your height alone gives it away."

Harri glared up at him defiantly. She hoped he could understand the expression through the soft mask covering her face.

"I have a task for you, either you do it nicely, or we kill all of your companions. The Killing Curse should work even on your green troll," it was easy to tell he was gloating through the mask.

Harri didn't really have a choice with those options.

She grasped at her hair as he dragged her through the room into a different one. There would probably be a bald spot there if she made it through the day.

The new room was filled with nine or ten foot tall bookcases filled with small glowing orbs.

"This is the prophecy room," Lucius said as though he was giving a tour. He jerked from side to side on her hair forcing the teen to turn and look at all of the room. "One of the prophecies in your room deals with you. I need you to retrieve it."

Harri had to check, "Do you actually have Sirius?"

Lucius laughed, "Of course not, I just needed to trick you to come here and retrieve the prophecy."

Harri looked at the other's with her. Clint was holding his arm against his chest. Snape was held at wand point by a Death Eater with blood dripping down his face. It appeared that the Hulk hadn't even gotten up.

"Ok," she agreed.

"I figured you would see things my way. Come, let us find Potter," Lucius dragged her through the aisles by her hair.

Eventually they reached the correct shelf. Harri saw the prophecy there, "Harriet Jamie Potter." She hadn't even known that there was a prophecy about her.

As her hand reached for it, she heard a shout behind her. Her hair was tugged one last time as Lucius let go of it to turn and face the new arrivals.

Harri grabbed the prophecy before she turned to look. Members of the Order were filing in through the doors.

Sirius, Remus, Tonks, backup had arrived.

"Get your hands off my goddaughter, Malfoy," Sirius shouted as he ran towards them.

Malfoy sneered at the dog animagus and stepped away from Harri slightly. Harri used the chance to move well away from the blonde Death Eater.

It was a battle scene all around her. Far different from the battle at New York, but dangerous nonetheless.

Hawkeye and Snape had jumped back into the fight. She was trying to weave her way back to Bruce in the other room to make sure he was OK, the prophecy clutched in her hands. She managed to slip through the doorway and spotted the Hulk still laying where he had fallen.

He should have turned back into Bruce when he collapsed.

On her way, she spotted how the Death Eaters were closing in on her. She was their main goal.

As much as she wanted to know what the prophecy said, she knew what she had to do. The Death Eaters were still far enough away that they wouldn't be able to hear the prophecy.

So she threw it on the ground where it broke. A shadow voice started to whisper ominously. She heard only the beginning before the sounds of battle blocked her hearing.

Something about the one born.

The Death Eaters around the room let out different groans and shouts of anger.

Then Harri saw Bellatrix turn to Sirius and start to duel him. Harri could tell Bellatrix was angry about the prophecy even as she taunted Sirius.

Harri saw how close Sirius' back got to the veil.

She tried to shout out a warning, "SIRIUS!"

He turned his head toward her with a grin on his face. Then the red light started to hit him and he began to fall. Snape's warning about the veil rang in her ears, and she waved her hand.

Her magic immediately shot out and grabbed hold of Sirius. Suddenly he was falling forward instead of backwards.

"Accidental magic at your age, Potty? Tut, tut, not a very good witch are you?" Bellatrix taunted her. "Still, I'll get one of my blood traitor cousins today."

Harri's magic was still holding onto Sirius, pulling him away from the veil. No one had time to react as Bellatrix turned and shot the sickly green light at the other Black cousin present, Tonks.

Tonks had her back to that duel to fight a different Death Eater. She never saw the green light hit her back. Harri knew she was dead before her body even hit the floor.

"NO!" she yelled.

No one was supposed to die today.

Bellatrix let out a mad laugh, "The half blood died today! I killed her."

Harri chased after the crazy woman into the main atrium.

"She was your blood! Your family!" Harri yelled after her, dodging spells the crazy woman shot behind her.

"Upset Potty? It's all your fault, you know! You came here today and brought everyone with you!" Bellatrix let out another laugh.

Then a dark presence descended in the atrium.

A dark presence that dimmed the lights in the room similar to how dementors bring darkness.

A presence that Harri was unfortunately familiar with.

"Voldemort," she whispered as the not man floated into the room.

"Potter," he said cordially.

"I sent my followers to retrieve something for me, but they are clearly incapable," Voldemort said as though they were just having a discussion.

"The prophecy is gone, I already broke it," Harri said.

Voldemort's red eyes looked over her sharply, "You are lying."

"No, I'm not! It's gone; you're too late," Harri said. She didn't feel too triumphant though, her thoughts kept flashing back to Tonks body laying dead.

Voldemort's face twisted with displeasure, "Then you are no use to me."

Harri truly tried to defend herself, but she was so tired. Her brain was reacting to her strong emotions by jumping again. It was hard to connect her desire to defend herself with the actual movements.

A statue flew in front of Harri at the last moment.

She turned to see Dumbledore stride into the room. He looked grim as he faced off with Voldemort.

Just like that, Harri was able to understand why Voldemort was afraid of Dumbledore. The two older wizards battled, and Harri collapsed against the wall. She was just so tired, the same as the battle of New York. Too much of the wild magic. It was more powerful, but it also drained her more than wanded magic used to.

Then Minister Fudge and aurors were piling in the atrium, led by Kingsley Shacklebolt.

Fudge was complaining, "I'll have your badge for interrupting-"

His mouth dropped as he stared at the magic and debris flying around as Dumbledore and Voldemort faced each other.

"He-who-must-not-be-named!" Fudge shrieked.

Voldemort noticed the crowd gathering and growled.

"Away!" he yelled, his voice easily spreading through the different chambers. He apparted away, and cracks were heard as the Death Eaters left with him.

Bellatrix said Morsmordre as she popped away, and the Dark Mark was left hanging in the air as though a constellation had appeared on the inside.

Harri was vaguely aware of snaps of light going off as the reporters behind the aurors took pictures.

Suddenly she was scooped into strong arms. She fought for a minute before recognizing the crying face of Sirius Black above her.

"Sirius Black, someone stop him!" Fudge shouted.

"Minister Fudge, Sirius Black is innocent," Dumbledore announced.

"What-wha," Fudge was stuttering as though he didn't know what to say or do. There was no denying Voldemort's return this time.

Sirius passed Harri into the capable arms of Remus, "Get her back to Hogwarts."

"Wait, no, I have to help Sirius," she said as she struggled, too weak to put up too much of a fight.

"You've already helped him, cub," Remus replied.

"But they might send dementors, I need to be a witness!" she cried.

"You need a healer," Remus replied.

He apparated the two to the edge of Hogwart's wards. Other witches and wizards for apparating too, all apparently on their way to the healing ward. She spotted Snape appear with the Hulk, a fairly impressive feat of magic, but she was too tired to really care.

She remembered Remus setting her carefully on a soft hospital bed. And a broken sob.

She reached a hand toward the man, "Sorry, s'all my fault."

Her words were slurred with exhaustion, but his were thick with emotion, "Don't you ever say that, Harri Potter. It is not your fault at all."

She shrugged, but was asleep before she could argue more.

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Time Break~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

Some information on the characters and timeline of my story:

Timeline: Basically, I combined the Harry Potter series with the Avengers series, but sat it in the Avengers timeline. So this would be in 2012, the same time as the Avengers movie.

**Harriet (Harri) Jamie Potter:** 15 years old. Wild black hair, bright green eyes. Five feet tall. Her magic accidentally cut out part of her brain. Then, it could heal her enough to keep her alive, but with some damage. Landed on the Tesseract during the battle of New York. She doesn't know what all it may have done to her being a human who touched it and survived, but it did further heal the brain damage. Still some issues during times of strong emotions such as stuttering. Closest to Bruce Banner.

**Bruce Banner (also the Hulk):** 28 years old. Salt and pepper black hair. Wrinkles around eyes. Five foot eight inches (below average height for a guy). Seven PhDs and a medical doctorate. Hides behind sarcasm. Loves sweaters and soft blankets. Slightly suicidal, but less so now that he knows he can't die and needs to take care of Harri.

**Clint Barton (Hawkeye):** 33 years old. Not married (Sorry). One of SHIELD's top agents. Currently at Hogwarts acting as a liason. Also friends with Harri. Best friends with the Black Widow.

**Sirius Black:** He can't believe he is 35 years old. Spent 12 years in Azkaban. A ladies' man. Shoulder length black hair. Maybe about to be freed? Or sent back to prison?

**Remus Lupin:** 35 years old. Sometimes doesn't know why he's still friends with Sirius. Loves tea, books, and fuzzy sweaters. Obviously, he's a werewolf. His name is literally Moon Moon.

**Severus Snape:** 35 years old. Giant hooked nose. Greasy black hair. Made a vow to protect Harri, but Harri doesn't know. Spy for the Order. Mean, bitter, secretly kind of a good guy, but a bully. Needs a redemption arch that actually helps.

**Ron:** 15 years old. Tall, redhead. Good with strategy and chess. Badly jealous.

**Hermione:** About 17 years old thanks to time turner use. Curly brown hair that is slowly becoming more curly and less bushy, but still has its own mind. Loves tea, books, and libraries. Can be overbearing, but means well. Typical bossy only child. Getting better by the end of fifth year.

**Dumbledore:** well over a hundred years. Dude is old. Long beard. Manipulative, but not evil.

**Voldemort:** Also old. Red eyes, no nose. Hates Harri. Truly evil.

Phew, here's another chapter. I didn't plan on putting in this many details, but I couldn't resist once I started writing. Really different from the original Ministry break in, let me know what you think in a review! Especially on Snape going with them, I'm sure everyone has an opinion on that one :)


	5. Chapter 5

Harri woke up with a gasp.

The all white walls reminded her where she was.

She could hear voices murmuring on the other side of the curtain, so she slid out of the bed and padded over on stocking feet.

Harri had to squint to see in the darkness, but she spotted Madam Pomfrey standing with someone in long black robes. At first, she thought it might be Snape, but the shape was off. Not tall enough, a little broader than the lean professor.

Whoever it was, he was waving his wand over the form on the bed. Harri recognized the giant green hand laying off the side limply and rushed forward.

Both of her hands wrapped around a single green digit, and she started to feed her magic into the Hulk's body. His energy levels were so low that he seemed to be in some sort of a coma, but as her energy flowed into him, he started to transform back into a human.

The unknown man made a move as though to stop her, but Madam Pomfrey placed a hand on his shoulder, "She has a natural healing power. She will not harm him."

Harri felt herself grow weak again and cut off the healing energy.

"Thank you, Ms. Potter," Madam Pomfrey told her with a gentle smile as she went back into her office.

"Are they going to be OK?" she asked the stranger as she settled into a chair.

Clint was laying on the bed on the other side of her, his arm wrapped up in a sling. He shot the girl a strained smile when she looked over at him.

"Hey kid, I'm good. Madam Pomfrey said the bones in my arm were all shattered, so she banished them and has me regrowing them with some sort of gross concoction. I'm fine, just feels like all the growing pains in one quick burst," he said.

"Thanks to your help, Mr. Banner should be fine as well," the stranger said. "I am from the Department of Mysteries. I was told that Banner had an altercation with the brain tentacles. Is it true that you cut them off of him?"

Harri nodded silently as she drew her knees up to her chest and held onto Bruce's hand.

"It is a good thing you did. Because they were removed so quickly, no lasting damage was caused," the man said.

Harri didn't really understand, "How were they even able to affect him? Most magic doesn't affect the Hulk at all."

"The tentacles can't perform magic. They are a type of creature we created accidentally. We were trying to create an artificial brain, but one of the big problems was how to add new information to the brain. The tentacles were one of our attempts. They have tiny filaments that come off of the tentacles. As the tentacles wrap around the new source of information, the hair like pieces pierce through the skin like needles and head to the brain. The tentacles are meant to make copies of everything in the brain," the stranger continued.

"Is that why Bruce started to come back?" Harri asked.

The man nodded, "From what others have explained to me, the green creature has great brawns, but limited mental abilities; whereas, Mr. Banner's brain is considered by many of the muggles to be one of the most highly intelligent of his generation. The problem comes from prolonged exposure. Once the tentacles have copied all of the information, they have a tendency to destroy the brain of the host looking for additional information to copy. The tentacles were connected to Mr. Banner for such a short time that they had barely even started to copy the information and certainly hadn't gotten to the point of destroying brain matter."

"Doctor, actually," a weak voice muttered next to her.

Harri felt a wide smile spread across her face as her friend slowly blinked up at her, "Bruce! You're awake!"

"Yeah, just feel like I was ran over by a truck, but that's actually probably more the Hulk's fault," Bruce told her with a gentle squeeze of her hand. He turned back to the stranger, "So there will be no lasting damage to my brain?"

"None, the experience was especially draining to your body, but Ms. Potter has already brought your energy levels back to a safe point. As I said, the tentacles were not attached long enough to cause lasting damage to your brain," the man said.

The man turned to Harri, "I am rather interested in what severing spell you used that was so effective against my tentacles though."

Harri looked intently at the sheets, "Oh you know, just a normal school girl severing charm."

The man hummed in thought, "Here is my card, Ms. Potter. Perhaps if you are looking for a job after Hogwarts, you will consider the Department of Mysteries."

"As a worker or science experiment?" she couldn't resist asking.

The man smiled sardonically at her, "You may find the lines are sometimes blurry in my line of work. Still, it is something to consider. Now, I believe my work here is done. Mr...rather Dr. Banner, I have left a regime of potions for you to take for the next week. They might help with the scarring as well."

As the man left, Bruce turned to Harri, "Scarring, what scarring?"

She shrugged and Bruce shifted his hospital gown to reveal lines of red circular marks on his chest that showed exactly where the tentacles had wrapped around him.

Clint whistled slightly, "Dang, those things managed to leave a mark that lasted through your transformation back into Bruce. Remind me not to make those Mystery guys mad."

Dumbledore came in then. Harri watched him wearily. As he walked over, he waved his wand and a chair floated over. He sat across from the group of three friends.

"Ahh, so the night's heroes awaken," he told them with a small smile.

"Heroes probably isn't the right word," Harri felt slightly awkward. "I guess it was kind of foolish to rush into a battle on the off chance that Sirius was captured."

"Yet, it showed an admirable amount of loyalty. And it also showed how effective your guardians managed to be," he gave Clint and Bruce both a nod in return.

"Effective? I ended up with a shattered arm, and Bruce was basically in a coma until a few minutes ago," Clint complained.

"The four of you took on nearly one hundred Death Eaters, and you managed to stand your own," Dumbledore said.

Harri suddenly remembered, "But Tonks! She...she died, didn't she professor?"

Dumbledore's face became grave, "Yes, indeed. The biggest tragedy of the night. Even trained professionals such as Tonks, an auror herself, can make mistakes in the middle of battle. It is impossible to be aware of everything happening. That is why our allies are so important. As much as I appreciate the heroism that I have seen from you thus far in your Hogwarts career, I have to say that Mr. Barton and Dr. Banner may be better defenders than Mr. Weasley and Ms. Granger. I shudder to think of what may have happened if they had been the ones with you in the ministry. You do realize that all of you could have lost your lives last night?"

Harri looked down in shame, "Yes I understand."

"But I also want you to know that I am not disappointed in you," Harri looked at Dumbledore in shock, "As I said, you showed bravery and loyalty, though perhaps not wisdom. It was a bad situation all around. I was gone, McGonagall was gone, and Umbridge was in charge. You did not know how to reach me, though I am glad that the fourth member of your group sent me a Patronus. In the circumstances, you acted admirably."

"Umbridge!" Harri suddenly remembered the toad. "Professor, Bruce sort of-"

Dumbledore cut her off with a raised hand, "I am aware of what happened with Umbridge. She spent a decent amount of time with the centaurs before we had returned. In fact, I was only able to fetch her thirty minutes ago. She has been sent to St Mungos. I believe the quiet may be good for her."

"What now?" Clint asked what they were all thinking.

"Now? Well Professor Barton, we have about a week left in this term. Then, I suppose the three of you will be heading back to New York for summer break. I will need to meet with you professors the two weeks before the start of the next term to review the lesson plans for next year. And I may have to call upon Ms. Potter a few times during the summer," Dumbledore said with a twinkle in his eyes.

All three of their mouths dropped open.

"New York?" Harri asked.

Dumbledore nodded, "You know, the older I get, the more I realize that I have a tendency to be a meddling old coot."

Clint snorted before he could help himself, and the other two shot him reproving glares.

"No, it is true. I try to do my best, yet I can't help but remember that muggle song about the pathway to Hell. It has come to my attention that I made a mistake in placing you with the Dursleys, and I must apologize to you, Harri," Dumbledore said, his face grave again. "I had foolishly believed that blood would help them to overlook the mistakes of the past, but that was not correct. This time, I believe you are old enough to be trusted with such a matter. If you wish to go back with the Avengers, then I will not stop you. Getting farther away from Voldemort may actually work in our favor. You no longer have the connection with him, and I will put some cloaking spells on you before you leave. I do believe being surrounded by muggles may be for the best."

Harri felt like her face might split in two from her grin.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Break~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

All three of them were released from the Hospital wing when morning actually came around.

Ron and Hermione grabbed Harri and dragged her into an unused classroom.

"What happened?" Ron demanded.

"Rumor has it that Professor Banner turned into a giant green monster, threw Umbridge into the forest, then you, Professor Banner, and Professor Barton stormed the Ministry of Magic where Voldemort attacked you guys, and Dumbledore stopped him," Hermione said in a rush.

"Don't forget the mystery hero! Supposedly there was some other guy with you guys that has special magical powers and saved the day," Ron continued, soundly awestruck.

Harri almost laughed at the thought of how Ron's face would contort if he knew Snape was the mystery hero.

"Sorry guys, Dumbledore made me swear to secrecy about the fourth person. But yeah, Br-I mean, Professor Bannor does turn giant and green, but we call him the Hulk. Malfoy told me that Sirius was kidnapped and being held at the Ministry. I tried to floo call him, but Umbridge caught me. She cast the crucio on me," Harri couldn't help the shiver that went through her.

Her two friends gasped.

She nodded, "That's why Bruce turned into the Hulk; he was so mad. He flung her into the Forbidden Forest, but I cast a spell to soften the fall slightly."

"Should've let her die," Ron muttered.

Hermione smack his arm, "Ronald, can you imagine if poor Professor Banner had to live with that for the rest of his life."

"Do you two know what happened to Malfoy?" Harri asked. She hadn't heard anything about him.

"He disappeared not long after the OWLs, same as you. No one has heard from him since," Hermione said.

"But my dad told me that Mr. Malfoy was one of the Death Eaters exposed in the Ministry. They didn't catch him, but a warrant is out for his arrest now," Ron said happily.

Harri told them about the rest of the fight, ghosting over some of the details. When she got to the part about Tonks, her eyes watered slightly, and she had to turn away.

"Oh no!" Hermione covered her mouth with her one hand, but came and wrapped her other arm around Harri.

"Bloody hell, I can't believe that," Ron said.

"And I was hoping Tonks and Professor Lupin might eventually date," Hermione said.

"What?" Harri asked.

"Oh I keep forgetting you weren't at Headquarters with us last summer. Tonks had the worst crush on Professor Lupin. She didn't even try to hide it; she was constantly flirting with him. He was doing his usual, "No, I'm an evil werewolf." But I think Tonks would have eventually wore him down if she'd had more time," Hermione explained.

Suddenly, it all made more sense to Harri.

"Still, at least Sirius is free now," Ron said.

"He is?" Harri asked.

"Yep, in the papers this morning. Total pardon," Ron said.

She grabbed the paper that he had been holding in his hands. The article was pretty vague but it included a giant picture on the front of Dumbledore and Voldemort dueling. She spotted her small shape huddled against the wall, but she doubted anyone would recognize her, especially with the mask.

"So at least Sirius will be able to go out some this summer when we're all at Headquarters," Ron said.

Harri paused, she hadn't told them yet about their summer plans.

"Harri? Aren't you coming to Headquarters this summer?" Hermione caught Harri's expression.

Harri shook her head.

"What? Dumbledore can't make you go back to those muggles again after what happened last summer!" Ron exploded.

Harri shook her head again, "Uh no, I don't have to go back with the Dursleys. I'm actually going back with Professor Banner and Professor Barton for the summer."

"WHAT?" both of her friends asked.

"Yeah, we'll be staying in New York with some of our other friends," Harri continued.

Hermione and Ron were upset, but Harri promised that they'd figure out a way to visit during the summer. She was sure that she'd end up spending at least a little time at Headquarters.

"And I want to see Sirius now that he's free. Maybe he'll come visit me, and you guys can come with him?" Harri suggested but Hermione was already shaking her head.

"That would be way too suspicious if you disappear for the summer, and then the three of us go on a trip together. Everyone would know we were going to visit you. All a Death Eater would have to do is follow us," Hermione said.

"Well, we'll figure it out," Harri insisted.

Later that day, Sirius showed up at Hogwarts to see Harri. After he had spun her around in a large hug, Dumbledore went with the two up to his office. Many gasps had been heard from the student body as the previously wanted criminal walked freely through the castle. Anyone not up to speed was quickly filled in.

"How are you Sirius?" Harri asked.

She could see the two warring emotions on his face. One part appeared to be overjoyed at finally being exonerated, a free man, while the other side was grieving for his cousin.

"I wish I had known Nymphadora more. She was just a little kid when I went to Azkaban, then I came out and she was this spitfire woman gunning for my old best friend," he let out a snort.

"How is Remus?" Dumbledore asked.

"Oh he's OK. They hadn't actually dated at all, but I think he had finally worked up the courage to ask her out. I think he's pretty hard on himself, wishing he had taken the leap earlier," Sirius explained.

Then her godfather fixed his sharp grey eyes on her.

"Now what is this I hear about you going off to New York? I'm free now! We can spend all summer together, do whatever we want," Sirius said.

Harri looked at him sadly, "Not with me around, we wouldn't be able to. Voldemort is still looking for me. We'd have to spend all summer locked up in Grimmauld place, and you'd hate that. This way you can have more freedom."

She didn't want to say that as much as she loved her godfather, she'd found a place where she felt like she belonged. And where she ranked higher than revenge.

The conversation was long, but Sirius eventually conceded the point. With Dumbledore placing protection charms on her, she would be safer in America where Voldemort's influence had never reached.

"I'm still gonna come visit you, cub," Sirius said as he wrapped her in a hug.

"I hope you do," Harri said.

Now that Dumbledore was back in place as Headmaster and OWL testing was over, the last week went quickly. Harri spent more time with Hermione and Ron than she had all term.

She also spent a lot of time with Clint and Bruce. Fighting together again had helped to cement the bond between the three of them. Harri tried to give Snape a cordial nod, but he snarled at her and gave her detention.

"Potter, you never know when someone is watching. Nothing has changed," he told her in the detention. But Harri rolled her eyes, because something had changed for her at least. For the first time in her five years at Hogwarts, Harri actually felt like she trusted Snape.

Snape held up his hand, "I was surprised to learn about your time at the Dursley's. I had thought you were treated as a spoiled princess. But, nothing is different between us. I must still maintain my position and to do so, I hate all Gryffindors. I will be horrible to all of you. It is what needs to be reported to Voldemort."

Harri nodded, once, decisively, "I understand."

Harri was surprised by how the detention had gone, but she explained it to Clint and Barton after putting up many protection charms. Clint hadn't been surprised at all.

"Sometimes we have to act in ways that we don't actually agree with as a spy," he told her.

On Friday, Harri went to Dumbledore's office with Bruce and Clint. Dumbledore spent over an hour placing various protection charms on her. She felt slightly tingly all over.

"Ahh, the tingling should fade as the magic settles over your body. I will remove the charms before you return to Hogwarts in the fall," Dumbledore told them.

"Professor, did you know what the prophecy said?" Harri asked.

Dumbledore looked grave, "I was wondering how long it would take for you to ask about that."

He told them the words of the prophecy and explained the meaning.

"So I am the only one who can defeat Voldemort?" Harri finally asked.

Instead of answering, Dumbledore said, "I'm sure I don't need to impress upon you how important it is that you stay safe this summer and return next fall."

Harri supposed that was its own sort of answer.

"Perhaps you can work on your magic as well," Dumbledore said with a twinkle returning to his eyes. "Magic without a wand of your level is well beyond anything even I am capable of. In fact, you didn't use your wand a single time this term, did you?"

"You knew?" Harri asked in shock.

"Perhaps your associates could help you to find others who use magic such as that. No one that I have ever heard of had abilities such as that, but I have already been surprised that the muggles found a way to create a troll from a person without any magic," Dumbledore said with a look at Bruce. Bruce blushed slightly.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Break~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Harri rode on the train with her friends, but Happy was waiting at the train stop for her with Sirius Black. The crowds watched in shock as one of the previously most wanted criminals in the country talked casually with the stranger.

"You better take care of her," Sirius warned severely as he gave Harri into a tight hug.

"Of course, Mr. Black," Happy agreed then led Harri out to the waiting limo. Many of the muggle born students gaped as they spotted the expensive car that Harri got in. She sent Seamus a sarcastic wave as he and his parents stared at her.

Happy drove them to an airport where they boarded Tony's private jet. The owner himself was waiting for them along with Bruce and Clint. Harri grabbed the seat next to Bruce and settled in.

"I let you borrow my best friend, and you nearly break him! What would have happened if the tentacles had sucked out all of his brains? He would be worthless to me!" Tony started ranting as soon as he saw her.

"Crap, I wasn't going to tell you about that," Harri muttered under her breath.

"You know I don't love him for his brawns! It's all the brain with me," Tony yelled.

Harri rolled her eyes, "I don't think you understand the difference between loving someone and using them."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Break~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Harri was glad to be back in New York. The tower had officially been rebranded as Avengers tower. While the three were gone, Tony had it completely renovated, adding in giant training rooms and officially giving each member their own level.

She quickly spotted a problem though.

"Bruce, this is a big deal," she whined.

He smiled her, "My apologies that I am not showing my true panicked self. Should I faint in horror?"

"We claim we're a team, but we literally never do anything together," Harri continued.

"You are not on the team. You are an underaged teenager," Tony said across the lab and Bruce nodded his head in agreement.

"Fine, then the Avengers never do anything together. When's the last time you all even saw Cap? Clint and Natasha train together all the time, and it shows when they fight together against someone else," Harri argued.

"I don't think that's why Clint and Natasha train together," Tony waggled his eyebrows suggestively.

"Besides, I'm just a scientist. I don't want to train with anyone," Bruce's deep voice broke in.

"You are not just a scientist. You two could use some training same as anyone else," Harri said in a determined voice.

Which led to the current dinner party that Harri was throwing in the communal part of the Tower. She'd invited all of the Avengers over for a team building meal.

"Bruce, can you check on the asparagus for me, please?" she asked as she set the plates on the table. She laughed when Bruce came out wearing an apron as he carried the asparagus.

He rolled his eyes, "I know how much butter burns when it hits skin. I'm not taking any risks over here."

"I'm laughing more at the quote on the apron, is it yours?" she asked.

Bruce took a minute to look at the quote and laughed, "No, I just grabbed one that was hanging up, it must be Tony's."

"It is. I have enough confidence in my cooking, I don't care what the rest of you say about it," Tony walked in with a beautiful Pepper on his arm.

The apron said, "Your opinion wasn't in the recipe."

"Pouring a glass of whiskey is not cooking," Harri clarified.

Tony shrugged, "You say potato, I say puh-tah-to."

The other Avengers slowly filled the room. Even Thor came back to visit. They gathered around the table, and Steve said a short prayer before they started to eat.

Dinner was loud with little conversations happening all around the table. Some had better manners than others, and several rolls ended up chucked at each other like weapons.

Post dinner, everyone gathered in the living room. Many had a drink in hand, though Steve, Harri, and Bruce weren't drinking.

Once they were all settled around the room, relaxed, Harri made her move.

"So you guys are supposed to be a team, but I never see you training together?" she asked. Bruce shot her an amused grin at her manipulations.

Captain America looked thoughtful, "You know, I never thought about that."

"Why would we need to train together, we saved New York without working together before," Tony said.

"The Warriors Three and I always trained together with the other soldiers before battle," Thor said.

"It helps everything to go better. Just think, maybe we would have destroyed fewer buildings if we were used to working together," Captain America said.

And that was how the Avengers ended up starting training sessions together. Steve created a training schedule that allowed them to all practice with each other. Even Thor promised to try to come to at least one training a month.

Harri was happy to get training from some of the mightiest heroes around the world. She also planned more team building fun days. When Clint and Tony realized she had never been to an amusement park, they planned a trip for everyone. Then they realized how many things Steve and Harri had both never done, and the team created a list.

"Ok, we have:

The aquarium

Visit the beach

The zoo

A circus

An amusement park

A drive in movie

Campfire and s'mores

Camping in general

A Broadway show

Art galleries

And kayaking, anything else team?" Bruce asked as he dictated the list.

"So many, but this is at least a start," Tony said.

For the fourth of July, the team spent an entire week in Washington D.C. checking out the Smithsonian's. Steve always seemed distant after looking through the exhibit on Captain America, so they dragged him to the art galleries.

Harri had never felt so free before.

Then, a strange man had grabbed her and pulled her into an alleyway in D.C.

"Hey, we should grab some ice cream," Clint said.

Bruce looked around for Harri but couldn't find her, "Guys, where's Harri?"

Everyone stopped and looked around, but she wasn't with any of the Avengers. Once they had made certain she wasn't just lagging behind, Bruce really started to panic, pulling at his black hair.

Natasha picked up her phone and made a phone call to SHIELD.

"Code Magic," she said into it and hung up.

"What does that mean?" Tony asked.

Clint shuffled all of them towards a Smithsonian were a conference room was opened just for the team. A different agent came and pushed in a portable TV system were the security cameras were rolling.

"We have emergency plans in case anything happened to one of the team. There's a special one just for Harri considering, she's just a teenager and she's relatively untrained," Natasha explained.

Then Coulson stepped into the room, and the team lost it.

"We thought you were dead!" Steve yelled as he hit the table.

"Son of Coul, what kind of trickery is this?" Thor asked.

Coulson held up his hands until silence descended in the room, "Fury felt that he needed a reason for you all to work together. Harri Potter helped to save my life that day by inadvertently distracting Loki from killing me. Now, we need to figure out what happened to her. There is time to argue about my survival later. What do we know about the current situation?"

"She was with us inside the American Art Museum. Then we were walking back from lunch on one of the side streets, and she had gone toward the back of the group to talk to Clint. When I went to ask her a question, she was gone," Bruce said.

The others nodded in agreement.

"She had fallen slightly behind me, said she wanted to take a picture of one of the cherry trees. I sped up to suggest ice cream. Then, she was gone," Clint added.

"OK, tell us the street, and we will isolate it. Do we think this is magical, superhuman, or human?" Coulson asked.

"I have no idea!" Bruce threw his hands into the air.

Suddenly, the earpieces in Clint, Natasha, and Coulson's ears went off.

"They found her?" Natasha asked.

"Where?" Bruce asked.

He led the way to a side alley where they found Harri.

"Bruce!" she yelled as she launched herself at her best friend.

"Harri, are you alright?" he asked as his hands checked for any injuries.

"Yes, I've just missed you guys so much," she said.

"Really kid, you've only been gone what? Thirty minutes, how much could you really miss us?" Tony asked.

"Thirty minutes? I haven't seen you guys in a year," Harri said.

They all stopped and stared at the teenager.


	6. Chapter 6

"OK, maybe we should bring this conversation back to the Tower," Tony announced.

The group quickly got back onto Tony's private jet and started on their way back to New York.

"Next thing I know, I'll be rebranding this the Avenger's jet, just like my precious tower," Tony said.

His attempt at a joke fell flat when everyone remained quiet.

Harri was sharing a couch with Bruce, her feet laying in his lap. One of Bruce's hands was absently checking her pulse as though to reassure himself that she was back.

Clint and Natasha were taking up the other couch. Steve and Thor were both in the individual seats.

The flight was fairly silent the entire way.

It wasn't until they were all back in the communal area of the Tower, that the others turned to Harri. She quickly placed privacy charms around the room.

"What do you mean that you've been gone for a year?"

"Uh, exactly that. I've been at some sort of secret wizard training place for twelve months. They called it Kamar Taj. They were kind of like me in that they all do magic without a wand," Harri tried to explain.

"Why did they kidnap you?" Tony asked.

"They said I had to be trained. That if I didn't learn to control my magic and the stuff with the Tesseract, I would've blown up New York or something," Harri said.

"What?" Clint sounded concerned.

"Yeah, apparently my magic and the Tesseract were against each other and building up inside of me like a bomb. Personally, I think it would've been a pretty impressive way to go, destroying all of New York, but I have to admit this is the better option," Harri said. No one commented on the way Bruce's hand tightened on her ankle.

"Well, what was it like at the magical sanctuary?" Tony asked.

Harri thought for a minute, "Uhm, boring honestly."

"You spent a year training in some sort of mystical sanctuary- wait where was it?"

"Somewhere in Tibet, but it had sanctums in London and New York. They wouldn't let me go to the one in New York, because they said I would have ran away," Harri said.

"You were in a magical sanctuary in Tibet and all you have to say about it was it was BORING?" Tony's voice raised in a slightly high pitched manner.

"Uh, yeah," Harri said.

The Avengers shared exasperated glances.

"Listen, it was like all old people, no one my age. And most of them were monks so they got up at like 4am, did their meditation, ate breakfast, meditated, ate lunch, martial arts, ate supper, meditated, went to bed. For twelve months. I thought I was going to die from boredom," Harri complained.

"You had the opportunity to see mystical secrets that people would give limbs to find out, and all you can do is complain about the old people and monks?" Clint asked. "Teenagers."

Harri shrugged.

"We need more information than that, who are these people? Are they a danger? What if they decide to kidnap more people?" Steve demanded.

"I'm sorry, they've placed a spell on me where I can't give any details like their names. I can tell you that they aren't dangerous to us. It's their mission to protect Earth, same as us," Harri met Steve's eyes. Steve seemed to be searching for something as he stared at her eyes for a minute. The others watched.

Eventually he nodded, "Ok, I trust you, kid."

"Wait, so how old are you?" Natasha asked.

"Physically, I'm sixteen now. Time wasn't stopped. I was still aging, just time took longer in there than out here. What was a year to me was apparently thirty minutes for you guys," Harri said.

Clint sat up, "Dude, so when you have your birthday in a month, you'll turn seventeen. Which would make you an adult in the magic world!"

Harri nodded happily, "Yeah, isn't that awesome!"

"I don't care what the magical world claims is an adult, you aren't an adult in this tower until you are eighteen. And the American drinking age is 21, so definitely don't get any ideas there," Tony waggled a finger in her face. Harri stuck her tongue out at him.

"Look at you acting like a dad," Natasha laughed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Break~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Late that night, Bruce felt the bed dip as Harri climbed in with him.

"Hey," she whispered.

"Hi," he whispered back.

She tucked herself against his side like she used to in India when the night was a little too chilly and they had only their coats as a blanket. He wrapped an arm around her.

"I really missed you," she said. He ran his hand through her hair.

"What was it like?" he asked her.

"Honestly, it was super boring. I got to study a lot of healing magic though, so that was good," she said.

"I thought I was going to Hulk out when I realized you were gone," Bruce admitted.

She tucked herself a little closer and placed his fingers on her wrist to feel her pulse.

"I'll try to tell you what I can before the spell stops me," Harri whispered to him. He turned onto his side, so he was facing her.

"What was your room like?" he asked.

"Really tiny, like a walk in closet. It had a bed and a built in shelf where I could put my changes of clothing. I wore this one piece robe most of the time. But the room was mainly just for sleeping. We spent most of the day in the common rooms or in the gardens," she continued and then paused, "Do you think Tony would let me put some garden beds on the roof of the tower?"

"Maybe, you'll have to ask him," Bruce said, "How many people were there?"

"Not too many. I couldn't tell you for sure because I spent most of my time with just two of them, the An- and W-," her mouth moved slightly but Bruce couldn't hear anything when she tried to say the names.

"Oh and there was this library that you would have loved! It was like the Library of Alexandria, I swear it had almost every book ever written," Harri said.

"So you were just like everyone else there?" Bruce asked.

Harri paused, "Well not exactly. What the sorcerer's do is very different magic from the wizarding world I'm used to, different forces. And even though I don't use a wand now, I'm still not really using their force. Like their techniques work for me, but I'm moving different energy. It's really hard for me to do their magic because I'm already so used to my kind. It's like being right handed all of your life and suddenly being told to use your left foot to write with. I'm definitely not a master, but I can control myself enough that I won't blow up anything, and I picked up a few cool tricks."

Harri paused, then admitted, "They did say that they knew of another human who had interacted with the Tesseract. They didn't tell me much about her, but told me not to look for her because she'd show up when it was important."

"Really? It's so hard to imagine another human touching the Tesseract and surviving considering the pure energy levels that run through it," Bruce said.

Harri nodded slowly, "Well, they think she had the opposite reaction to me. Where I am blues and calming forces focused on healing, they said she was like a comet, bright orange and fiery."

"Did they kidnap her too?"

"Actually," Harri said, "The sorcerers never met her. They just knew of her."

It was well after midnight before the two fell asleep.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Break~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Wake up, I want to go get some breakfast!"

Bruce sat straight up in bed with green eyes while Harri yawned and slowly sat up.

"Clint, what are you doing in here?" Bruce asked him.

"Chill dude, I told you I don't care that you guys sleep together. I know you're just sleeping, and I also know about PTSD. But now I'm hungry, and you guys are the only ones left in the tower, so I need y'all to get up and grab some breakfast with me," Clint said.

Harri rolled her eyes but was already getting out of bed.

"Come on, you know he's not going to stop," Harri told him.

"Don't encourage him," Bruce complained but got out of bed too.

Harri wandered over to her room and came back in a pair of joggers and a hoodie, thankful that Tony had insisted on buying her clothes after he realized she was moving into the Tower. He'd been disgraced by the rags that she had arrived in.

"It's only 6:1o in the morning," Bruce complained.

The three settled into a booth together in a busy diner in downtown New York, Bruce and Harri on the same side with Clint across from them.

They fell into talking in sign language like they occasionally did in public. Harri knew that Clint appreciated it because he didn't have to focus on his hearing aide as much. Plus, fewer people knew sign language, so it added some privacy to their conversations.

~Where is everyone?~ Harri asked.

~Work, missions, etc~ Clint signed back. ~Think Thor went back to Asgard~

"Is that for all of us?" Harri switched to talking as Clint told the waitress he wanted eggs, bacon, sausage, french toast, a cinnamon roll, chipped beef gravy, and texas toast

"No way, get your own," he stuck his tongue out at her.

She laughed, "You are a child. I'd like a bowl of fresh fruit, scrambled eggs, and bacon."

"Uh, just some fruit and a bowl of oatmeal. Oh and a coffee, please," Bruce ordered still seeming half asleep.

~Dude, so I wanna see your new magic skills~ Clint signed at her.

~Actually, I was curious about them as well~ Bruce signed.

~Eat quickly, I'll show you when we get back to the Tower~ she replied and then giggled as Clint started shoving the hot food into his mouth. She ate slowly even as Clint tapped his foot impatiently.

"Want more coffee, honey?" the waitress asked Bruce.

"Better not," Bruce said as he glanced at Clint's face.

Back at the Avenger's tower, they went into one of the underground training rooms.

"Jarvis, training level six," Harri told the robot.

"Harri, are you sure?" Bruce asked. They had never let her go beyond a level two before.

"Yep, watch this," she said in excitement.

The two watched in concern, Bruce's eyes green to show how close the Hulk was in case Harri needed help, but the green slowly faded into shock as they watched Harri easily defeat the robots coming at her.

Then a bot shot a bolt at her feet, and she leapt into the air, but she didn't come back down. Her hands glowed blue from her magic, and she easily shot it like bolts of energy at the bots. When it hit a robot, it would explode, destroying it.

She flew over to them, "Think the others will let me be an official part of the team now?"

"No," Bruce immediately.

"Come on, Bruce, please?" she whined.

"No way kid, cool powers or not, you are still just a teenager," Clint agreed.

Harri pouted by flying off and destroying some more robots.

"Dude, what kind of strays do you pick up?" Clint whispered to Bruce as they watched the girl.

"Seriously, you're gonna go there? Black Widow ringing a bell?" Bruce countered.

"Touche," Clint remarked.

Harri yelled as she took out three bots at once.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Break~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Harri was working on science experiments in the lab while Bruce worked on the computers and Tony cut a piece of glass as the face shield.

Tony let out a string of curses as the glass splintered and broke.

"Oh no," Harri breathed as she stared at the glass.

Bruce rushed to her side, "What's the matter?"

"Most things continue to splinter off when there is already a crack in them, right?" Harri asked.

"What?" Bruce looked over at Tony but he just shrugged.

Harri grabbed Bruce's face, "No listen, so a completely smooth, polished broom handle isn't likely to give someone a splinter. It's the one that is damaged, rough that gives splinters. If a glass gets a crack in it, it tends to keep splitting and cracking."

"OK…?" Bruce asked trying to figure out where Harri was going.

"A piece of Voldemort's soul split off and attached to me. Normal, healthy souls don't just splinter-"

"But a soul that had already been split, would have a tendency to keep going," Tony finished for her.

Bruce said some choice words.

"That's why he didn't die from the Killing Curse backlash. It may have killed his body, but his soul wasn't all there to be killed. And Tom Riddle in the Chamber of Secrets, that was another piece of his soul!" Harri said.

"Chamber of Secrets?" Tony asked.

"Yeah secret chamber one of the founding fathers of Hogwarts created to hold an evil monster dead set on killing part of the student population," Harri said quickly like it was normal.

Tony raised his eyebrows, "You said that like it answered all of my questions, but I think I have even more now."

"That's not the point right now. Voldemort can't die until we find all of the pieces of his soul and destroy them!" Harri smacked her hand on the metal countertop.

"That's a problem," Bruce agreed.

They immediately tried to contact Dumbledore, but they knew it may take the owl an entire day to reach him.

"Maybe the sorcerers will know!" Harri used a metal ring on her hand to open a hole beneath Bruce and herself in the lab floor.

She tripped on the other side and ended up sprawled next to the man who was screaming.

"Bruce!" she yelled.

~Back in the lab~

"Teleportation? She leave for thirty minutes, learns to teleport, and doesn't think that's something important to tell us!" Tony yelled at the empty room. "Jarvis, did you get that?"

"I'm sorry sir, my scans noticed a spike in energy, but I do not have the capacity needed to diagnose it," the robot answered.

"Set every scan you have. I'm sure Potter will bring them back eventually," Tony demanded.

~Kamar-Taj~

"Miss. Potter, you brought your friend," an androgynous white woman stood over the two.

Harri stood up, "Ancient One, there is a problem."

"Ahh, and what would that be?" the Ancient One turned and started to pour a cup of tea. She brought it over and handed it to Bruce who had scrambled to his feet only to stand awkwardly watching.

He took a sip, "Thank you….?"

"Do not worry Dr. Banner, you are not in danger here. I suspected Harri would bring you eventually. The spell stopped her from sharing information, but it did not stop her from bringing you here," the Ancient One gave him a smile.

The Ancient One handed Harri a cup as well who took it with a thankful nod.

"Now, what has happened?" the Ancient One asked Harri again.

"I believe that Voldemort split his soul before the accidental piece that went into me. That explains why he survived the backlash of the Killing Curse," Harri said.

The Ancient One took a sip of her tea.

"Well, do you agree?" Harri asked.

"Your logic is sound," the Ancient One agreed.

"Is there anything we can do?" Harri asked in growing frustration.

"There are many things we can do. In what way do you mean?" the Ancient One replied.

"Is there a spell or something that could be used to find the missing pieces of Voldemort's soul?" Harri demanded.

The Ancient One took another sip, "No."

"What?" Harri asked.

"There is no such spell that I know of. There are spells to find people, but they would only point to the main piece of Voldemort. There are spells to destroy souls, but they could only be used if you already found the pieces. Nothing is used to find fragments of souls because it is not a practice that is normally done," the Ancient One explained.

It seemed as though the strings holding Harri upright had snapped as she fell into the chair.

"There goes that idea," she said.

"My apologies, young one. While we deal in aligning the Spirit, our specialty is time. We guard the multiverse. We have few interactions with soul magic," the Ancient One continued.

Harri sagged further, "I figured it was at least worth a try."

The Ancient One nodded, "Better that you tried than just sit around. Still, while our specialty is time, I believe those of Asgard have more advanced practices with the soul. Your friend Thor may be able to help you more than I can."

Harri straightened up slightly, "I didn't even think of the Asgardians!"

She stood up and started to open a portal, but the Ancient One stopped her by raising her hand. Harri followed her gaze as she turned to Bruce.

"Dr. Banner," the Ancient One said mildly. "You have a question, do you not?"

"This place, aligning the spirits, could you-?" he broke his sentence off as though afraid to continue it.

Harri watched without saying anything as Bruce's astral form left his body.

"Of course, anything can be separated. But, is it worth it to you? For your soul to leave, but not die. Stuck in a ghost like form for the rest of eternity. Unable to help your friends, protect them? Unable to move on and find peace?" the Ancient One asked.

Harri turned away, unable to watch incase he did choose that. She knew that Bruce's tendencies were not the best. His broken gaze as he talked about trying to shoot himself in the head had been burned into her memory during the day in the helicarrier.

Still she caught the shake of his head as he chose. Her body sagged in relief, releasing the tension it had been holding.

"Could you train me? Teach me to align my spirit at least?" Bruce asked.

"No. It is not for me to teach you. Peace comes through time and experiences. Set your gaze upon what you wish to learn. For now, it is time to return home," the Ancient One said.

Harri bowed her head respectfully, but Bruce felt sharp disappointment and resentment go through him. He managed only the slightest dip of his head.

"And Harri?"

Harri turned back.

"Do not go straight into Stark Tower. Mr. Stark has scans set to go, and I do love a mystery," the Ancient One said.

Harri managed a bit of a grin back, her hopes now set on Thor.

~Back at the Tower~

"Sir, Miss. Potter and Dr. Banner have just arrived through the front door," Jarvis announced.

Tony was waiting when they came through the elevator, "How did you do that?"

Harri grinned at him, "I picked up a few tricks through my time with the monks."

Dumbledore arrived later that afternoon.

"Sir, Professor Dumbledore is waiting at the door," Jarvis announced.

"I told you to call him Gandalf," Tony complained.

"Ms. Potts overrode your authorization," Jarvis said.

"She is CEO of the company, not my robots! Well, send him up," Tony said.

Dumbledore walked through the doors into the communal area in deep navy blue robes with whales embroidered into it.

"Gandalf, good to see you again," Tony called from the bar. "Can I pour you anything to drink?"

"No thank you. I'm here for business unfortunately," Dumbledore said. Tony snorted and poured himself a cup of bourbon.

"You got the letter saying I had to see you?" Harri asked.

Dumbledore's face furrowed in confusion, "My apologies, I did not know of any such missile."

Harri paused, "Then...why are you here?"

"Ah, I am here to pick up you and Dr. Banner for one of the trips that I said we might have to go on through the summer," Dumbledore said.

"Oh, well there's a problem. I think Voldemort has split his soul before. It's why it splintered into me, and, get this, I think that's what was in the diary in the chamber!" Harri said waving her hands.

Dumbledore stared at the worked up teenager in front of him and said nothing.

Harri stared back before throwing her hands up, "Let me guess, you already figured that out?"

Dumbledore's head dipped forward, "I had my suspicions, but it wasn't until the Chamber that I was certain."

"But that was five, wait four years ago! Why didn't you tell me before now?" Harri demanded.

Her anger was starting to flare up, and her magic with it. Items started to shake on the shelves. Tony gasped and grabbed at his chest.

Bruce stepped forward and placed a broad hand on Harri's slim shoulder, "Harri, I need you to calm down. Too much magic in the air runs the risk with Tony's arc reactor."

Immediately, Harri looked guilty, and the anger flowed out of her.

"Sorry, Tony," she said.

"I'm so glad that Pep isn't a witch. I'd never get to see her worked up," Tony said and Harri rolled her eyes.

Dumbledore took a seat on the minimalist couch. Harri was certain he looked more out of place in Tony's slick, modern tower than he would've anywhere else. She tried to imagine the old wizard sitting on the Dursley's floral couch and couldn't help a slight smile.

The smile turned to a frown as she remembered that Dumbledore had been hiding information from her for years.

"You are a child. I hoped that keeping such information from you would allow you to have a normal childhood. Still, I am including you now in an attempt to make peace," Dumbledore said.

"What do you need me for?" Bruce asked.

"Ah, the situation we are going into may be dangerous. I believe that I have located one of the other pieces of Tom's soul, and we need to retrieve and destroy it," Dumbledore said.

Bruce was already shaking his head, "Nope, that doesn't sound like a situation for Dr. Bruce Banner."

"I suppose Harri and I will have to go by ourselves then," Dumbledore sounded disappointed.

"What? Bruce, you're just going to send the kid by herself with Gandalf?" Tony sounded angry. "You know why I can't go with them, but what excuse do you have?"

"The Hulk could get loose and kill someone, Tony. That's kind of a big excuse," Bruce quipped.

"No its not, I can stop him," Harri argued.

"Unless something happens to you like it did with Umbridge," Bruce argued.

Harri looked into his eyes, "You won't let anything happen to me."

Bruce looked back, "Why do you believe in me so much?"

"It doesn't matter why, but I do," Harri said.

"Fine, I'll go. But I'm blaming you and Tony if I kill someone," Bruce muttered.

Dumbledore stood up, "Now that that is settled, it is time that we begin our journey. Ah, Ms. Potter, please grab your cloak before we go. One never knows when it may be useful."

When Harri had returned from grabbing the cloak from her room, he held out a candy wrapper. Once he had tapped it twice with his wand, he held it out to the others. Harri took hold of it, but Bruce looked confused.

"Bruce doesn't really like caramel," Tony said.

"It is a portkey that will transport us back to England," Dumbledore told him. Harri grabbed Bruce's hand and placed it onto the candy wrapper.

Like always, it felt like being squeezed and twisted.

Bruce gasped and stumbled.

"I never want to do that -ever again," he gasped in individual breaths.

"Same," Harri agreed, only slightly better than Bruce even though she had traveled in such ways before.

The two turned to Dumbledore only to see that his back was to them as he surveyed a crumbling wooden shack in front of them.

"What is that place?" Harri asked.

All of the windows were broken out, and parts of the roof were falling in. Vines crept up the walls of the dilapidated building. Despite the appearance, something felt wrong.

Harri felt like she needed to turn around and leave. Go anywhere except for there.

Bruce seemed to feel the same way because he grabbed her wrist and started to pull her backwards, still facing the building.

"We need to leave," he said.

She nodded in agreement, but Dumbledore waved his wand and a barrier seemed to appear behind them. They couldn't back any further away.

"Professor, we need to go now," Harri said.

"It is a spell. We need to continue forward," Dumbledore said.

His spell pushed on their backs and moved them forward no matter how much Harri and Bruce dug in their heels.

Suddenly, Harri realized they must have gotten through the ward because the overwhelming desire to leave leached away, and she could think clearly again.

"What was that?" Bruce asked, shaking his head as though he could get rid of the last clings of the repelling magic the way a dog shook off loose water.

"A strong repelling charm. Similar in feel to a muggle-repelling ward. The dark undertones of the spell caused the fear aspect of it," Dumbledore said, sounding grim. "Be on your guard, there will be more enchantments and wards."

"Great, yeah, more of that," Bruce said.

Harri slipped her hand into his and gave it a squeeze.

"This was the family home of Voldemort's mother. The Gaunt house."

Dumbledore waved his wand over the door and magic enchantments seemed to break off like broken glass.

They stepped into the dilapidated building.

"Watch your step," Dumbledore said as Bruce's foot went through one of the floorboards. He smiled sheepishly at the others.

Dumbledore led the way, Harri and Bruce each feeling a certain level of trepidation. They paused as Dumbledore pushed open the door to the back part of the cabin.

Then, Harri heard the slithering.

"Sssssstupid wizardsssss," she heard.

A cobra, certainly not native to England, came up through the broken floor board.

Dumbledore sent a spell at it, and it lay paralyzed on the ground.

Harri shot a bolt of blue light at the next two, rattlesnakes. They exploded when the light hit them.

Dumbledore shot her a look.

"Sorry, not sorry. Self defense," Harri said.

Then, the rest came. Hundreds of snakes of all kinds. Most poisonous, but plenty of pythons and anacondas as well. Every kind of snake imaginable. They came up between the floorboards, through the broken window holes, and down through the holes in the ceiling.

Too many snakes to even count.

Dumbledore didn't have a chance to give any more disapproving glances as Harri used blue bolts to destroy as many as she could. Dumbledore sent his own spells at others.

Bruce grabbed a broken piece of a chair and beat at any that slithered towards him.

"Harri, didn't you say you could talk to snakes?" Bruce called across the room.

"Yeah, you don't want to hear the stuff they are saying," Harri said.

"Couldn't you order them to stop attacking us?" Bruce yelled.

"Ssssstop!" Harri tried to yell, but it came out as a loud hiss.

The snakes all stopped moving. Apparently the magic that conjured them had trained them to obey parseltongue.

Harri blushed as Bruce's exasperated look turned to her, "Sorry, forgot."

"I am surprised that you retained your parseltongue ability after the removal of the piece of Voldemort's soul," Dumbledore commented.

"I think that was assimilated into my magical core. Because of the way the soul piece was removed, the magic remained," Harri said.

"Maybe this conversation could be postponed for another time," Bruce suggested, waving his chair leg in the air.

"You are right, my boy," Dumbledore said. With a wave of his wand, the magic seemed to dissipate from the room, and the snakes went with it.

Dumbledore walked over to a chest against the wall, but when he opened it, a familiar green light shot out. The old man ducked in surprising dexteriority and hit Bruce straight in the chest where he had been looking into the chest behind Dumbledore.

Immediately, he dropped to the ground.

"Bruce! No, no no nooo," Harri moaned as she shook his shoulder.

Bruce lay there.

Harri buried her face his shoulders, "No, please, no."

Dumbledore stepped forward, "My dear, I'm so sorry."

Harri sobbed into Bruce's chest.

But then she paused.

"Dumbledore, I think I hear a heartbeat!" she placed her ear more firmly against his chest, trying to listen.

The old man placed a hand on her shoulder and tried to pull her back, "Nothing can survive the killing curse."

She pushed him away, "I survived it! Try enervate."

Dumbledore sighed but said the necessarily spell to waken someone. He stepped back in shock as Bruce's eyes flickered. The headmaster rushed to Bruce's side and started to way diagnostic spells.

"Just knocked you unconscious!" he breathed in shock.

"I've got a nasty headache," Bruce muttered trying to comfort the crying mess of teenage girl in his arms. "What happened?"

"The Killing Curse. It came from the chest when it opened and hit you. I thought you were dead," Harri sobbed.

"The green light?" Bruce asked. Dumbledore nodded at him.

"I wonder if it is a form of Gamma radiation?" Bruce's scientist brain was starting to whirl.

Harri squeezed him, "You should've died, and you're already trying to think through the science of why not?"

"I think that would be an excellent conversation for another time. It is good to know that even the Killing Curse is only a limited danger to you. I find myself quite curious about this gamma substance, but for now, we have other matters to address," Dumbledore suggested.

Harri helped to pull Bruce to his feet.

"Would've been nice to know in the Ministry," Harri complained. Bruce shrugged in apology.

They went back over to the chest. This time, nothing shot out at them. Inside the chest was a ring with a large red stone attached. A strange triangle design was etched into the top of it.

"The Resurrection Stone," Dumbledore breathed.

"Resurrection Stone?" Harri asked. "What's that?"

She looked over at the headmaster when he didn't answer. There was a look in his eyes as though he was somewhere far away.

"Professor?" she asked him.

"It's been so many years," Dumbledore whispered. His hand was clenched in a fist at his side.

"Professor Dumbledore!" Harri said louder, but there was no reaction.

Dumbledore's hand was reaching toward the ring in the chest.

"Professor, you can't touch that! It could be cursed," Harri cried. She grabbed his arm and tried to pull it away, but the old man had surprising strength in his arm.

"I don't think he hears you," Bruce said. "Maybe it's another spell. The opposite of a repelling charm."

Harri shot a blue bolt at Dumbledore. It didn't make him explode, but it did push him across the room several feet. His eyes didn't move from the chest though.

"Crap," Harri muttered as Dumbledore immediately went towards the chest again.

"Bruce, what are our options?" she asked him, pushing Dumbledore back with another blue bolt of light.

"Use a portal to leave? Maybe if he's away from the ring?" Bruce suggested. Harri nodded and opened a portal dropping them on the top of a snowy mountain.

Dumbledore's blue eyes turned to Harri in frustration. He waved his wand and an avalanche of snow started to fall on them.

Harri let out a choice word and teleported them to a humid jungle.

Bruce staggered as he tried to catch his bearings, but Dumbledore was already waving his wand causing vines to come alive and try to wrap themselves around Harri.

She opened another portal that dropped them into the dessert.

Dumbledore held up his wand and apparated away.

Harri opened another portal that led them back to Gaunt cabin where Dumbledore's hand was only inches from the ring.

"No!" she yelled and sent a stronger bolt than she had before. Dumbledore flew across the room, and his head hit the wall with a sickening crack.

Bruce sent her a disapproving look.

Harri threw her hands up, "I decided to take a leaf out of Nat's book. Hopefully he's OK when he wakes up."

"Better grab his wand incase he's still under the stone's affects," Bruce suggested.

Harri nodded and grabbed Dumbledore's wand. She was surprised that it seemed to hum when she touched it. It felt alive.

"Harri?" Bruce's hand on her shoulder jerked her from her thoughts.

"I think I could cast magic with this wand," Harri whispered.

"What? I thought your magic wasn't compatible with wands anymore?" Bruce asked.

"It feels like this wand is compatible with my magic," Harri muttered.

She pushed it into her pocket and tried to ignore the feeling. The two turned to the chest.

"So what do we do with it? What if one of us goes crazy next?" Bruce asked.

Harri shrugged, "I don't know. Eventually there wouldn't be anyone left to knock the other one unconscious."

They met each other's eyes as they stepped crazy.

"Feel obsessed with it yet?" Bruce asked her.

"Nope," Harri said.

Harri pulled the handkerchief from Bruce's pocket and wrapped it around the ring, careful not to let the stone touch her skin. She tucked it into her pocket next to Dumbledore's wand.

From her bag, she pulled out the invisibility cloak and pulled it over Bruce and herself. With a wave of her hand, Dumbledore was floating behind them.

"Come on, we need to get him to a hospital wing," she told Bruce as she opened a portal into Hogwarts. She checked that no one was around before guiding Dumbledore into the room and removing the cloak.

"Madam Pomfrey, I need your help!" she called into the white room

"Miss. Potter, what are you doing here?" Pomfrey asked as she came around the hallway, "Oh my! What happened to the headmaster?"

Harri floated the professor onto a hospital bed.

"He hit his head really hard. But before he went unconscious, he was like possessed. There was a dangerous magical object that could have killed him, but he wouldn't stop trying to touch it," Harri said, careful to avoid mentioning what the magical object actually was.

"Oh dear!' Pomfrey gasped as she waved her wand over the headmaster. From the tip of the wand, a patronus formed.

"Summon Professor Snape. Tell him it is an emergency," she ordered.

As they waited, Pomfrey continued to cast diagnostic charms.

They didn't have to wait long, within minutes Snape stalked into the white room, his black as night robes standing out starkly in the pale room. Harri thought a concerned look may have crossed his impassive face when his eyes caught sight of Dumbledore.

"What happened?" he demanded. Then his eyes caught sight of Harri and narrowed, "Of course you're involved Potter."

"Something possessed him!" Harri said.

"You are better with mind arts then me," Pomfrey said.

Snape waved his wand without saying anything.

It took a long time, but eventually Snape determined that Dumbledore was no longer possessed and decided to awaken the old man. Pomfrey was standing at ready with pepper-up potion.

Dumbledore was no longer possessed, and the twinkle was back into his eyes as he looked over at Harri. Once Pomfrey had returned to her office, he spoke.

"I see that you have liberated me of my wand," he told her.

Harri blushed as Snape's face turned to glare at her, "I was worried if you woke up and were still possessed to touch the ring."

"The ring! Where is it?" Dumbledore asked.

"In my pocket, wrapped in a handkerchief," Harri said.

"I must give you very specific directions. I wish for you all to kill the soul piece without damaging the stone. I cannot see it or help you because I fear what would happen if my eyes lay sight of it again," Dumbledore instructed.

Snape, Bruce, and Harri went to Dumbledore's office and retrieved the sword of Gryffindor.

Harri sat it onto his desk, and Snape hissed in pain as the handkerchief fell away.

"It is a good thing you kept him from touching the stone. There is a dark curse on it that would have killed him," Snape told them.

By following Dumbledore's directions, they were able to sever the connection the soul piece maintained on the stone.

As a dark cloud floated into the air, Harri shuddered as it flew towards her. Snape grabbed the sword and swung it at the dark cloud as it passed to the other side of Harri. Bruce grabbed hold of Harri as she collapsed to her knees.

"Harri! Are you OK?" he asked.

"So dark. So polluted," she muttered as she fainted.

Snape waved his wand over her, "She will be OK. It tried to drain her energy and create a connection her, but her mind shield stopped it from latching on. It continued through her, just draining energy."

Bruce scooped her up bridal style and carried her swiftly to the hospital wing.

"Pomfrey!" Snape called when they got there.

She gasped at the sight of Harri, but ushered Bruce to set her down in a bed next to Dumbledore's.

After a night's rest, Harri felt stronger. Dumbledore seemed stronger too.

He wouldn't take his wand back from Harri.

"You defeated me. The wand will only respond to you now," he told her.

"Is that normal for wands?" Bruce asked Harri under his breath. Harri shrugged.

"Not that I know of," she whispered back.

Dumbledore did not explain much, simply that it was not a normal wand. He didn't explain what he had meant about the Resurrection Stone or what it was either. Harri worried about the look in his eyes, even though the curse had been broken on it that would have killed him. Sometimes there are other magical forces that can be bad even if they do not kill.

In the morning, Dumbledore prepared another portkey for them, but Harri held up her hand like asking a question in class.

"Listen, headmaster, can I try another method?" she asked.

Using portals, she got them safely to Stark Tower where Tony was waiting.

He fussed over how pale and tired Harri looked and directed her to sit down on one of the couches.

The trio explained their adventures to the billionaire who managed to only make five snarky comments.

"I only have one more potential trip for the summer, but that depends on if I can find some more information. I have a feeling the next trip will have to wait for during the school year," Dumbledore said thoughtfully.

"Headmaster, is there a term for what Voldemort is doing? Splitting his soul. Has that ever been done before?" Harri asked.

Dumbledore explained vaguely about Horcruxes. Harri felt sick to her stomach at the thought of being willing to do anything to achieve immortality, even kill others. Then, Dumbledore prepared to leave.

"Before you go, what is the possibility of getting more of Harri's friends and family to the tower to celebrate her birthday in a few weeks? I was planning a big party, though highly private of course," Tony said.

Dumbledore smiled, "I shall have to see what can be arranged. After all, it is not everyday that a young lady turns 17."

Harri's mouth dropped, "How did you even know about that?"

"No matter, I am off to Ollivander's to see about a wand. We shall have to see what a new wand and the training will do for the school year ahead of you. Speaking of, I nearly forgot, I have your OWL results here," Dumbledore handed the envelope over to her.

Harri waved goodbye, but couldn't resist stopping the headmaster.

"Professor, do you remember the Mirror of Erised?" she asked him.

He dipped his head in acknowledgment.

"You warned me that great men had wasted away in front of it. I'm not sure what a resurrection stone does, but I could probably make a guess. Perhaps you need to take your own advice?" Harri asked before stepping back.

Dumbledore's blue eyes twinkled at her, "My dear, you are always surprising me with your maturity. Until next time we meet."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Break~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

July passed quickly as the Avengers tried to cross items off the list.

One weekend, Tony flew all of them to the beach for training exercises. Harri turned red as a lobster all over, and the others laughed at the unfortunate teen. She was just thankful that the burn had faded into a deep tan before her party.

Currently, she was pacing the floor.

"Kid, calm down, Thor didn't say when he would be back, but he was hoping to make it to your party," Clint reminded her. He was laying on his back on the couch, tossing a ball above himself then catching it. Harri snagged the ball from the air, and he turned a frown on her.

"I just want to know if there's anything Asgard has that would help. It could take years to find all of the splinters," Harri complained.

"Most girls would probably pass the time getting ready for a big birthday party," Tony suggested, clearly already in the process of dressing up.

"Ugh, that sounds horrible," Harri complained.

"Pepper, Harri needs help," he called and the elegant red head came out carrying an iPad.

"I've already hired someone who will assist her with hair, makeup, and getting ready," Pepper said, tapping away.

Harri was dragged into her bedroom where she was primped and prodded for several hours.

"Harri!" a bushy haired blur was suddenly attacking her. Harri laughed as she hugged Hermione back.

"Professor Lupin!" she pulled the older man into a hug when she saw him behind Hermione.

"Harri, you can call me Remus. I have not been your professor in years. Plus, I heard you were turning seventeen?" Remus questioned.

"Yeah, how did that happen? How could I have lost another year of your life!" Sirius complained in a melodramatic fashion, flinging his arms around Harri as he walked into the tower with Ron.

"Trade secret," Harri was happy to see her godfather.

The birthday party was loud and crowded, and everyone was there to celebrate Harri. She thought back to her eleventh birthday when she drew a cake in the dirt before she knew that anyone cared about her.

Then she looked around her. Her wizarding friends were mixed with her superhero friends. Even though a war was beginning to pick up pace against Voldemort, there were good people out there who cared about Harri.

The party lasted for hours.

"Bruce," Harri grabbed her friend's shoulder as Tony announced it was time for her to open gifts. Bruce tried to dodge out of her hand, but her Seeker skills kicked in.

"Yes?" he tried to smile innocently.

"Did you tell Tony I'd never had a real birthday party? Is that why he went so over the top?" Harri asked threateningly.

"Tony always goes over the top," Bruce said, sweating slightly at the look in her eyes. He'd seen what she did to the robots.

Late that night, when everyone had settled into the various guest rooms throughout the tower, Harri found Bruce.

She pulled him into a tight hug, "Thank you."

"For what?" he asked, returning the hug after he stopped flinching. He always flinched when someone touched him. Had for years, ever since the Hulk.

"I know this was all because of your manipulations, but, just this once, I really appreciate it," she whispered to him.

A week before Hogwarts was supposed to start, Harri, Bruce, and Clint went to Grimmauld Place to be with the wizards.

"If any more brains attack Bruce, he won't be allowed to go on trips with you," Tony threatened Harri. She laughed at him as she hugged him. "I'm serious!"

"Be careful, kid," Steve had told her. Natasha had checked if Harri was carrying the new knives she had gotten for her birthday.

"Remember, wizards have a tendency to rely on their wands, but they're still vulnerable to a stabbing. Anything can be a weapon," Natasha reminded her.

"Yes, yes, I remember," Harri said before she opened a portal and sent them to England.

They stayed at Grimmauld Place through the end of summer. Bruce and Clint actually spent most of their time at Hogwarts in teaching meetings and preparing lessons, but they slept at Sirius' old family home.

Harri appreciated getting to spend some time with Hermione and Ron before the start of another term. It felt like they were constantly growing further apart, but for the one week, the three had seemed to silently agree to pretend like everything was alright between them.

"So how did your OWLs go?" Ron asked Harri.

"Outstanding in Defense against the Dark Arts and Muggle Studies. Exceeds Expectations except for getting Acceptable in Astronomy and History of Magic, and Poor in Divination," Harri said happily.

"I did about the same, only Exceeds in Defense and I got dreadful in History of Magic," Ron said.

Harri turned to her female friend, "Well Hermione, how'd you do?"

"Oh here we go again," Ron groaned.

"Terrible, I received only exceeds expectations in Defense against the Dark Arts," Hermione complained.

"What about the other OWLs?" Harri asked.

"Well, Outstanding, but that one E will be a tarnish on my permanent records forever," Hermione wailed.

Harri and Ron both rolled their eyes and then laughed as they realized they had done it at the same time. Hermione huffed in exasperation, but managed a small smile.

"Well, I guess we won't have potions this year. Snape only accepts O's," Harri said.

"That's great!" Ron said.

Harri shrugged, "I'm a little concerned. Potion making is a big part of being a healer. Maybe Pomfrey can do something to convince him to let me take it."

Ron gaped at her, "You have the opportunity to drop POtions and you're gonna try to get into it? Have you gone barmy. Why don't you just become an Auror with me?" 

"Yeah, Harri, why do you suddenly want to be a Healer?" Hermione asked.

Harri looked away, "I don't know, it just would be nice to do something with healing others. Aurors help, but it can be such a violent job. Capturing criminals, sending them to jail. I'm not sure I want to be responsible for sending anyone to Azkaban. But a Healer, that's a profession where I can see people get better."

"Whatever mate, I guess we'll have to see what happens with potions," Ron said.

"Who do you reckon will be the new Defense teacher?" Hermione asked. Ron and her both turned to Harri, but she held up her hands.

"I don't know. Dumbledore doesn't tell me anything about stuff like that," Harri said.

"You lived with two of the professors over the summer," Hermione said. "They didn't say anything?"

"Clint keeps saying something about how I might be surprised at the classes this year, but then Bruce smacks the back of his head to keep him from saying too much," Harri complained.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Break~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

September 1st dawned clear and sunny. Inside of Grimmauld Place, everyone was running late, as per usual. Items were missing and teenagers were running into each other trying to get ready.

The girls room was especially crowded with Ginny, Hermione, and Harri all having spent a week sharing the space.

"Where is my underwear?" Ginny yelled.

Ron shut the door quickly, "Nope, not going in there anymore."

Harri pushed it open and slipped out as well as Hermione and Ginny started arguing.

"Hey mate, how's the packing going?" Ron asked awkwardly.

Harri scrunched up her face, "It's a mess, but it's all your sister's fault. Hermione and I packed last night, but now she's claiming we took pieces of her stuff, so we had to unpack everything and repack it."

"Sisters, what'll we do with them," Ron said while shaking his head.

Harri was trying to keep her new magical powers on the down low, so Dumbledore had ordered for everyone else to go through the floo as usual. He had said that he would take Harri to the station himself.

Once everyone had left, Harri turned to Dumbledore, "So am I creating a portal?"

Dumbledore had nodded with the twinkle in his eyes, "Once the Cloak is over us, we can be on our way."

Harri used the sling ring to bring them to the side of the train station. When no one was looking their way, she pulled the cloak off and into her trunk. Dumbledore apparate away.

"Harri, dear, I'll miss you," Mrs. Weasley pulled the dark haired teen into a tight hug. Harri squeezed the matriarch of the Weasley clan back.

On the train, Harri had forgotten that Ron and Hermione would have Prefect duties to complete.

"I'll hang out with Luna and Neville," she said as Ginny went with them as well, her first trip as a Prefect.

"Hey guys," she greeted the other two.

"Hey Harri, know who the new defense teacher is?" Neville asked.

"Not a clue," Harri replied.

The train ride went slowly, but Harri reviewed a new healing manual, then played Exploding Snap with the other two. Eventually, the three Prefects joined them, resulting in a rather crowded train car ride.

Harri waved at Hagrid as they went by. She paused to pat one of the Thestrals on the nose.

"So misunderstood for their appearance," Luna said as she patted one as well. Harri nodded in agreement.

Inside the Great Hall, Harri felt like something was off when she spotted the new addition to the staff table.

"What's the matter?" Hermione asked as Harri kept shooting the blonde man glances.

"Something is off with his magic. I recognize it, but it is making my spine tingle," Harri said.

"His magic?" Ron asked.

"Yeah, I can feel everyone's magic, all are slightly different like your voice. I've never seen that man before, but something about his magic, reminds me of someone," Harri said.

She turned her gaze to Bruce and Clint who both shot her a small smile. She motioned her head towards the new professor. Bruce seemed fine, but Clint seemed to share her feelings that something was off by the furrowing of his eyebrows as his eyes turned to the new staff.

Through the sorting, Harri thought about it.

Then Dumbledore stood up for the announcements, "Good evening, welcome back for another term. We have a few changes in the staff line up this year. As like last year, Professor Barton is here to teach physical education and it will continue to be mandatory for all grades. Professor Banner has been hired as the official Muggle Studies Professor. All years will take his class once a week. I believe learning about those who share our world would be beneficial to all."

He didn't even pause as whisperings broke out across the school.

"And we have a new addition to the staff lineup. All me to introduce Professor Ikol. He is here to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts. Please join me in-"

Suddenly it hit Harri how she knew the magical signature.

"LOKI!" she yelled as she stood up.

Immediately, Clint had an arrow notched and pointing at the new staff member. Bruce's features looked suspiciously green as he also turned.

The features of the blonde man melted away into the black haired, green eyed god, "That was rather quicker than expected."

**Author's note:**

**Chapter 6 done. I'm hoping to put all of year six into one or two long chapters. Let me know what you think so far in a review below. Any thoughts on Loki? **


	7. Chapter 7

Loki snapped his fingers, "Ah, I remember you as well, little witch. You were unconscious last time I saw you."

He turned to Dumbledore, "How much would the witch cost?"

"What?" McGonagall sputtered on the other side of Dumbledore.

"What is the cost for the black haired witch over there? I wish to buy her," Loki said.

Dumbledore's eyes were still twinkling, "We do not sell our students at Hogwarts."

Loki frowned, "I had believed that human slavery was common practice on Earth. Still, if you change your mind, I will offer you a fair price for her."

"You won't be alive long enough for that," Clint threatened as he fingered the bow string.

Loki sent a condescending look at the archer, "You are no threat to me, human."

Bruce stood up, looking green tinted, "Well, I certainly am."

Loki couldn't completely hide the fear that went through his eyes, and Harri was fairly certain that every student started whispering at that point. She wondered what rumors would spread about the dorky muggle studies professor after this.

"What are you doing here?" Harri demanded. This time, the students noticed the foot long knives that she held in her hands.

Loki snorted, "Child, would you fight me with my own weapon?"

With a flick of his own wrists, two knives appeared in his hands. He jumped over the Head Table in a single long leap, looking eerily like a lion, all lean muscle. Harri didn't hesitate to stalk forward herself, her clothes melting into the familiar robe that she had worn at Kamar-Taj.

"Rules of engagement?" Harri asked.

"No magic," Loki replied.

"Fine enough with me," Harri replied as the two circled each other.

Dumbledore stood at this point, "No knife fights in the Great Hall. We have a feast to attend to. All weapons need to be put away, and all students and staff return to their seats."

Loki and Harri paused in their sizing up to turn to the ancient wizard. Though he smiled at them and his voice had not raised, he seemed serious enough that they each bowed their heads and returned to their appropriate seats.

Dumbledore turned to Clint who had not lowered his bow, "Professor Barton."

Clint threw his bow down in disgust and sat back down, glaring at Loki.

"Let us eat," Dumbledore spread his hands wide and food appeared on the tables.

After the rather quiet meal, filled with low whisperings as the students came up with theories about what just happened, the angriest parties met in Dumbledore's office.

"What is that psycho doing here?!" Clint yelled as he stared down the Asgardian.

"He is the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor," Dumbledore replied.

"Why would you hire a murdering psychopath to put around children?" Clint asked.

"Like he did with you?" Loki asked.

"I have never hurt a child," Clint returned, reaching for a weapon.

Loki looked at the archer in contempt.

"I will be back," Loki said and teleported away.

"Where did he go?" Clint demanded.

They didn't have to wait long, Loki flashed back in with a mostly naked Thor.

"Brother," the blonde whined as he held the towel tighter around his waist. Harri blushed and was thankful when Dumbledore conjured some clothes on the man.

"Thor, why is your brother at Hogwarts?" Bruce asked.

"Banner! 'Tis good to see you friend," Thor boomed.

"Thor, focus," Bruce demanded. "Clint's about to have a nervous breakdown."

"Barton, 'tis good to see you as well. Why are you filled with such anxiety?" Thor's face furrowed in confusion.

"I don't know, maybe because your psychopath brother is now my COWORKER!"

"I do not remember your voice being so high pitched when under brain control," Loki mused.

Clint's nostrils flared.

"Brother, now is not the time for jokes. Have you explained nothing?" Thor scolded his brother.

"I did not think they would believe me. It seemed best to simply retrieve you. For an unknown reason, they seem to trust you," Loki said.

Thor turned to the others, "My apologies for my brother, but you do not have to fear mind control from him. The scepter is no longer in his possession. Furthermore, his mind has been healed."

"His mind has been healed?" Clint asked.

Harri snapped her fingers, "That's why his eyes are green now. They were blue at New York."

"The scepter," Bruce said.

Clint waved his hand in between the two of them, "Excuse me, what are you two thinking now?"

"Loki was under mind control too, same as you," Harri said. Thor and Loki nodded behind her.

Clint let out some choice words, "No, we are not going there."

The others let him rant for a while.

"I still think you are an evil psycho," Clint got really close to Loki. "But, if it's true that you were possessed, I guess it's not completely your fault. Still mostly your fault, but not completely."

Loki considered the archer, "Thank you?"

"But how did Loki end up at Hogwarts?" Harri asked.

"Father wanted to imprison him in the dungeons for the rest of his life, but Mother and I argued that was too harsh. Mother insisted that he go to a mind healer, so that was his first visit. Mother and Father argued for over a day, but Mother eventually won," Thor said.

"Mother has more leverage," Loki added.

"So Father compromised, and said that Loki would pay for his sins by spending 20 years teaching the mortals as a way to repay them for killing so many and destroying New York," Thor added.

"'Tis your fault, because you reminded Mother of the magical folk on Earth. She suggested that I be a magical teacher at one of their schools," Loki told Harri.

"How is any of this my fault?" Harri asked.

Thor continued, "And then I suggested Hogwarts because it 'tis the only magical school I know, and I would be able to visit my comrades occasionally when I check in on my brother."

Thor's grin said that he was entirely too proud of himself, and Loki looked bored behind his brother. Dumbledore was sitting at his desk looking happy.

"Loki is a thousand year old wizard. He will be able to offer all of the students invaluable knowledge," Dumbledore said. "Plus, he will have an opportunity for a second chance."

Clint, Harri, and Bruce shared a disgusted glance.

"Sure, God of Mischief and Lies around impressionable children. This couldn't go wrong at all," Bruce said sarcastically.

Harri remembered the Horcruxes, "Thor! I have an important question for you!"

Thor turned to the teenager, "Lady Potter, how can I be of assistance?"

Harri looked over at Loki, "Perhaps it would be better if some ears did not hear."

Thor nodded in understanding. Once Loki had left, Harri explained the situation. Thor looked appropriately horrified.

"My apologies, Lady Potter, magic is not my area of expertise. Loki would be the better choice in such matters. He has always been obsessed with the magical arts," Thor said.

Harri's face fell. She wasn't about to trust Loki with telling him something like that. It would be just her luck for going down in history as being the one to make Loki truly immortal.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Break~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"So, everyone is going to want to know what's going on," Harri said back in Bruce's apartment once the students had been dismissed from the feast and she had snuck away from her housemates.

"Yeah, that's true," Clint said. He seemed to be performing inventory on his weapon stock. Harri thought he looked a little disappointed in himself as he covered Bruce's entire table in a variety of bows, arrows, knives, grenades, hand guns, and other weapons. Personally, she understood, despite there being easily a hundred different weapons, it probably would not be enough to stop Loki if he tried anything. Speaking of him...

"What do you think about Loki?" she asked him.

His eyes hardened and brow furrowed, "I don't like it, but Nat was brainwashed in the Red Room. They made her kill people, a lot of people. I gave her a second chance, and not just 'cause she was a beautiful woman. If I didn't give Loki a second chance too, I'd be a hypocrite. Doesn't mean I trust him at all though."

"I can be a beautiful woman too if that makes it easier?" Clint immediately sent a throwing knife at the trickster who had appeared in the armchair.

Bruce and Harri jumped to their feet as the knife passed harmlessly through the illusion.

Loki's features blurred and reappeared as a woman, but his voice didn't change.

"You should be honored that I chose you for my side instead of just killing you," Loki informed Clint.

"Oh yeah, I'll throw my sharpest knife at you in thanks," Clint muttered.

"What DO you plan on telling the mortals?" Loki asked Harri.

Harri wasn't really sure where she should look. There had never been a training on what to do when your male professor appears as a scantily dressed woman in your other professors apartments. She settled on looking at the wall over his shoulder.

"Uhm, clearly not the entire truth," Harri said.

"But you can't just tell the students lies. That would be wrong, and, more importantly, you're a terrible liar," Bruce said.

Female Loki's lip lifted in disgust, "Perhaps 'tis good that I did not buy you then. I have little use for a slave who is not even capable of basic lying skills."

Harri frowned indignantly, but decided that arguing her ability to perform immoral acts probably wasn't the best course of action.

"Fine, what do you all suggest then? You'll be asked plenty of questions yourselves," Harri reminded the others.

"I am simply glad that I shall be able to go by my given name of Loki. The non magical folk already know of the Asgardians and aliens. It will not hurt for the students at Hogwarts to know my identity too," Loki said.

"They'll have a lot of questions about how we know each other. Probably a few about the weapons as well," Bruce muttered.

Clint shrugged here, "They all know that I carry my weapons everywhere. Harri, I guess it's your choice whether you want to downplay your weapons abilities or try for intimidation."

Which is what led Harri to her current situation.

The sixth years across all four houses were gathered for the first class of the semester with Professor Barton. As soon as they were all gathered, he had announced that they would start with a demonstration before calling Harri up front.

Harri flicked her familiar knives into her hands while Clint pulled out a staff.

"Rules of combat?" Harri asked.

"No magic," Clint said.

And they began.

First, they circled each other, sizing up their opponent. After logging well over 40 hours of hand to hand practice over the summer, both Harri and Clint were pretty comfortable fighting the other.

"What benefits do I have?" Clint asked the students as he swung the staff at Harri. She blocked the metal staff with crossed knives. A gasp sounded from the gentler females, but all of the students seemed hesitant to make a comment.

Ron was the one to answer, "Size, age and experience."

Clint nodded as Harri swung one knife at his ankles and then the other at his chest.

"Good!" he called as he pushed her from offense to defense. "What are Harri's benefits?"

A Ravenclaw called out, "She's faster."

Clint swung his staff and hit Harri in the ribs with a dull thud. It seemed that everyone there winced in sympathy with her as she gasped and dropped to her knees. Clint stood over for a minute as she lay gasping on the ground.

"Really?" he asked.

The Ravenclaw shrugged, "Smaller, more agile, makes sense."

"In most cases, being smaller does lend itself towards increased agility and speed. With this battle, my additional experience enables me to spot openings. Those moments seem like I am faster than Harri, but she is truly faster than me. It was a good guess," Clint offered his arm to Harri and helped her up.

She walked stiffly to her seat, every blow that she received starting to make themselves known now that the adrenaline was fading.

Harri shot a smile at Hermione and Ron, but her brow furrowed in confusion when they refused to meet her eyes.

She caught them after class, "Hey what's going on?"

"This is just like second year," Ron muttered.

"Second year, what do you mean?" Harri asked.

"How long have you been good at hand to hand combat?" Hermione asked.

Harri looked between the two, "Woah, do you mean this is like the Parseltongue? Because I didn't know about that, so I couldn't have told you."

"Yeah, but people aren't just born with a natural ability to fight with knives. You just didn't think it was important to tell us?" Ron was yelling.

"No, it didn't really seem particularly important, Ronald," Harri glared to the red head.

Hermione tried to step in between the two, "Harri, we just thought you were our best friend, but you've been keeping so many secrets from us. For over a year now, you've been hiding what really happened to you, and what's happening now."

"There was a reason that Dumbledore let me stay with the team over summer. You never thought about what would be happening? You never considered that I might be getting training?" Harri asked them.

Ron glared back, "Why didn't we get training too?"

"You were-I mean, you guys have family-you needed to be with them-not in some other country," Harri stumbled over her words, trying to think of how to explain it. She couldn't exactly say that the other two still acted like teenagers, too childish.

Unfortunately, it seemed that the two had picked up on Harri's true feelings.

"More like we weren't good enough for your little training sessions," Ron snorted, and tugged on Hermione's arm. "C'mon Hermione."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Break~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Harri felt frustrated in the school. Hermione and Ron were still fighting with her, and she didn't feel particularly close to any of her others classmates. She sat with Neville in classes, but they had few things to talk about together. He was nice, but he wasn't her best friend.

Possibly the most frustrating thing, though, was that she found that she didn't miss Hermione and Ron as much as she thought she would.

That little fact grated on her nerves and made her more upset than actually fighting with them.

"What's...got you...in such a...bad mood?" Clint gasped as Harri set a much faster rate than she normally did around the lake during their morning run.

"Nothing," she said shortly.

"Kid, something's been bothering you for weeks. Is it your friends?" Clint asked as they stopped for a water break.

Harri swallowed a mouthful of water, "What friends?"

"Ahh, are red and bushy stirring up problems?" Clint asked.

Harri shrugged, "Not really. They haven't talked to me since the morning I fought you in class."

Clint's eyebrows raised, "That's been a month. We've worked on conditioning ever since. What do you mean they haven't talked?"

"Literally that. They won't even acknowledge my existence, just act like I'm not there in classes or the common room. Hermione sometimes sends me sad little looks in the dorm room, but she won't say anything to me," Harri said.

"OK, so you're lonely?" Clint tried to clarify.

"Not really," Harri said. She huffed as she sat on the grass and started to stretch out. Clint stretched across from her. "I send all of my free time with you and Bruce, plus plenty of time trying to spy on Loki and make sure he behaves."

"Is that the problem?" Clint asked.

"I guess. I mean, shouldn't I be really upset that they won't talk to me? Instead, I just feel kind of relieved. It was more tiring trying to constantly come up with excuses for where I was going or what I knew or trying to keep up conversations about Quidditch," Harri said.

"You know kid, sometimes friends grow apart, and that's OK," Clint looked serious.

She nodded, "But shouldn't I miss them? Shouldn't I wish things were back to the way it was before everything?"

"Do you wish things were the same as before you cut out part of your brain and spent six months traveling with Bruce. Do you really wish you had never gotten to see all of those countries and experience all of those cultures? Do you wish you had never fought with us in New York or trained with the team all summer? Do you wish you hadn't disappeared for a certain length of time?" Clint asked her seriously.

"No," she said simply.

"Then don't try to change your feelings. Just go with it, and be thankful for where you are now. Sometimes, I think I should miss the simple times at the Circus with my brother and learning how to shoot. But my new life is pretty cool. I mean, I'm working at a school of magic. It's OK that I don't want to go back to my past, but I still appreciate the memories from that time. Same for you kid. You lost two friends, hopefully not forever, but it's OK if you're happier with Bruce and I and the team. It's OK if you aren't consumed with guilt," Clint told her.

Then he smacked her on the shoulder, "C'mon, enough emotions and crap. Race you back to the castle. Last one back has to confess their love to Loki."

Harri sputtered, "Oh you are on."

Bruce huffed on his coffee as his two friends almost collided with him as they raced through the front doors of the castle.

"Tie!" Harri yelled.

"No way, I won."

"Bruce, tell him it was a tie!"

"I'm not listening to the scientist."

Bruce took a deep gulp of the coffee and turned back towards the Dining Hall, "I don't know why I even thought about checking on you two."

"Bruce!" two voices yelled as they started hitting each other.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Break~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"You seem...happier," Bruce said hesitantly as they walked out towards the Quidditch pitch. Harri was in her gear for the match. It would be the first game she had played in since third year. She had insisted that Katie Bell get Quidditch captain after Dumbledore had tried to give it to her.

She shrugged at him, "Yeah, I talked to Barton this morning."

"May I ask what about?" he said.

"Just, Hermione and Ron haven't talked to me in a month. And I didn't see Sirius or Remus much over the summer," she told him.

"And you feel lonely," he said it like a statement, but she shook her head immediately.

"No that's what was bugging me. How could I feel lonely when I've got such great friends. I just felt like I should miss them more," she shot him a smile.

He rubbed the back of his neck, "Well, Clint and I aren't exactly the same as friends you've had since your first year."

"Nah, you guys are even better," she punched him in the shoulder and raced off towards the Quidditch pitch.

Things were not what she had expected from her sixth year of Quidditch. After missing two years of Quidditch, she was pretty excited to get back onto the field. Still, the team was different, wildly different from before.

She missed the old team, solid, dependable. Ron and Ginny were OK, but it was going to be hard playing with Ron if he still wouldn't talk to her. And the new third year beaters, Carl and Luke, had nothing on the teamwork Fred and George had before. Not that she could blame them, they certainly weren't twins.

"OK team, this is it. First match of the year, it'll place us in the running for the Quidditch cup. Plus, like always, its against Slytherin. We all know that they'll be pulling as many things as they can without getting fouled. And even some things that do get them fouled. Let's do our best out there and get a win!" Katie said before sending them out.

Harri kicked off on her broom and flew through the air.

Katie was right, the Slytherins were playing dirty. She wondered just how many of the students were following Voldemort, even if he hadn't marked them.

She looked over towards the stands, Hermione was dressed in Gryffindor red, but she still wasn't looking at Harri, instead focusing on Ron.

Harri shrugged to herself and then looked over to the student section. Clint and Bruce were sitting next to each other. Bruce was wearing a Gryffindor scarf (probably berating himself on not showing favoritism to the students) while Clint was completely decked out in some sort of tight red and gold outfit. When he saw that she was looking his way, he stood up revealing a bright red jacket with gold undershirt and buttons that glittered across his chest. A red top hat was sitting jaunty on his head. He reminded her of a circus ringleader. As he stood up, he performed a tight flip from his spot to the seat on a bench one row below.

Harri grinned widely as McGonagall grasped her chest in shock at the physical education teacher's antics.

Clint bowed low to her, but she knew that he was just daring her, so she stood up on her broom.

Most of the spectators had stopped to stare at the two though the game was still continuing.

Creevy added some commentary, "Excellent shot from Gryffindor Chaser Ginny Weasley. Look at her red hair flowing. WHAT! Harri Potter seems to have entered a trick competition with Professor Barton!"

Any remaining eyes swung towards Harri and Clint where Harri was doing a one handed handstand on her broom thirty feet in the air while Clint did the same thing on the railing to the stands.

They were just playing a game of mimic, excellent workout where the other tries to copy anything the leader did. In this case, Clint was the leader.

Bruce was shaking his head and trying to talk Clint into getting back into his seat.

When it looked like they might start into an acrobatics routine involving Clint jumping off of the stands (Bruce had seen them perform almost the same thing in the Hogwarts stairwell once), he reached out with a slightly larger hand and yanked the archer back into his seat.

"Spoil sport," Clint complained.

Harri laughed but turned back around to the game.

The Gryffindor Chasers were blowing Slytherin out of the water with points, so Harri knew it was about her time to get the snitch. Their point lead should put them at the front of the pack.

She flew over the pitch.

In the stands, Clint was complaining to Bruce, "Does she really not see the snitch?"

Bruce turned to the archer, "And you do?"

"Yeah, it's right over by the goal post," he waved his hand.

Bruce squinted his eyes and thought he saw a bit of gold, "Ohh yeah, of course, over by the goal post. I don't know how she could have missed a two inch ball that flies ridiculously fast between all of the players and balls on the field. Absolutely horrible of her."

Then it was clear that Harri's eyes had caught sight of the snitch as she flattened like a bullet on her broom and went towards the goalpost.

Ron let out a rather unmanly squeak as his ex-best friend shot straight towards. He cowered with his hands over his arms as Harri sped past him and grabbed the snitch.

"POTTER CAUGHT THE SNITCH!"

Harri turned her broom back towards the Weasley, "Sorry, Ron, just didn't want it getting away."

Red creeping up his neck in embarrassment, Ron scoffed and turned around as the rest of the team gathered them up in a cheer of celebration.

Harri allowed herself to be pulled along into the Gryffindor common room. The party was typical for the exuberant house, music playing, butterbear flowing, and many voices talking.

It was only in the corner of her eye that she spotted Lavender Brown getting closer and closer to Ron. She wondered when he would push her away for some space.

Harri's mouth dropped when Lavender wrapped an arm around Ron.

She was doubly shocked when he turned towards her with a big grin and planted a kiss on Lavender's lips.

Unfortunately, she wasn't as surprised when a bush of brown hair barreled past her out the common room portrait.

Harri sighed and went over to Ginny. The redhead was undisputedly the best with such things among the old friends.

"Hey, uh Ginny," she said, rubbing the back of her neck awkwardly. Emotions weren't something really discussed or handled at the Dursley household. Harri shuffled her feet.

Ginny stood up, "Come on, we better go talk to her."

The red head shot her brother a glare and bit out, "Better be careful you don't catch anything from that one."

Lavender gasped in indignation but Ginny and Harri were already out of the portrait.

The two walked in silence for a minute before Harri said, "So Lavender and Ron, huh?"

Ginny snorted, "Apparently. She's been making eyes at him since the last game last year. Apparently now that he's a successful Quidditch player, she wants a piece of him."

Harri's eyes widen, "Wow I had no idea."

As Harri mused about how bad she was at noticing such things, Ginny shot her a dirty look, "Why? Did you want to date him too? You know how Hermione feels."

Harri put her hands up, "No way! No offense, but I don't know why hermione even wants to date him."

Ginny seemed pacified, "Honestly, I don't either. Listen, there's a lot of ground to cover. We'd probably better split up."

Harri nodded in agreement and went down the right as Ginny turned towards the hallway on the left.

The hallways were quiet. Harri willed her magic to tell her the time. Her eyebrows raised as she realized how late it was. No wonder there were no students walking around, curfew was only fifteen minutes away. She was scolding herself for not bringing the invisibility cloak when she heard footsteps coming her direction.

Later, she would try to defend herself by saying it was her reflex to hide, even though it wasn't actually after curfew.

She felt herself press back into an alcove, willing her magic to hide her.

It must have worked as several of the professors marched down the hall, Loki following behind them with his arms crossed, looking very put upon.

While the teachers' eyes passed right over her, Loki's eyes stopped on her form. He raised a silent eyebrow as he spotted her but didn't alert the other teachers to her presence. As Harri listened to the teachers conversation, she found herself following them to hear more.

"Can't believe Dumbledore is making us parole the halls," Flitwick complained. "Does he really think Malfoy will be able to get into the castle?"

McGonagall seemed to almost shrug, "The boy was top male for his year, but I hold my reservations about his skills. Still, with Voldemort backing him, who knows what abilities he may have."

"Why does he want into the castle?" Sprout asked.

"It's not known, just that his magical signature was found along the edge of the wards yesterday. This is a precaution. Dumbledore doesn't want to risk any of the students."

"It would be easier if the ancient wizard would be willing to place additional safety wards around the school," Flitwick said with a glance towards the black haired professor.

Loki seemed bored and simply rolled his eyes, "I placed wards around this school when it was first founded. Everything is still in place."

Harri wasn't the only one to look surprised that Loki had been here at the founding of Hogwarts. Then footsteps sounded down a side hallway, and they were all quiet as they turned towards it. It turned out to be several upper class Ravenclaws getting a little frisky in an alcove, and Harri took advantage of the distraction to slip away from the teachers.

So Draco was trying to sneak into the castle.

Harri wondered what his endgame was. Probably to kill her, or maybe there was another chamber of secrets that he was planning to open. Definitely nothing good after the way his family had been disgraced.

She came upon Ginny and Hermione on her way back to the common room. Hermione didn't seem excited to see her, and Ginny waved her away. Harri went back into the common room feeling significantly less happy than she had been only hours before. Clint's talk didn't feel as reassuring as it had that morning.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Break~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The inner courts of Lord Voldemort smelled like urine and sweat.

It always made Draco's nose crinkle and his lips curl in disgust when he was forced to press his forehead against the dirt as he groveled before the snake like man. In his head, he cursed his father for choosing this man for the Malfoy's to follow. What ever happened to the family motto that Malfoy's bowed for no man?

Regardless of pride, Draco's muscles still twitched from the last time he had been before the not-man, and he pressed his face even tighter against the disgusting floor.

"Draco," Voldemort used his first name in a mockery of intimacy, "Have you succeeded in your mission?"

"My master, the wards around Hogwarts were as solid as they always are. Nott has not yet placed the -" he was cut off by his own scream. His front teeth nearly cut through his tongue as his muscles spasmed from the pain.

"Draco, do you want to know what I have been told? You'll have to stop talking for me to continue," Voldemort scolded him, not letting up on the curse. Draco clenched his teeth hard enough that one felt like it cracked but managed to stop the scream. Only whimpers slipped out.

"Ahh, much better," Voldemort took his time, stroking Nagini's head. "Now Draco, I've been told that teachers have been patrolling the halls in the evenings. That leads me to believe you were spotted."

Finally he released the curse and Draco took a sharp gasp.

"Next time, do not be spotted. I need that object," Voldemort commanded him.

Nott Senior stepped forward, "My Lord, why not use one of the students still in the school for the entire mission? I have no doubt my son could perform better than the Malfoy scion."

Voldemort stroked Nagini's head, "I have already given your son a task. Let us simply hope he doesn't fail in that task."

No one dared to raise a question, but Voldemort could feel the tension in the air.

"Goyle, do you have a question?" he asked, calling on a follower that he willingly admitted was not one of his smartest.

"Sir, it's just, the last time you tried to drive Potter mad, I thought, well…"

"Yesssss?" Voldemort asked, sounding more like a snake as his frustration started to show from the doubt.

Goyle's Adam's apple bobbed, "Just, it didn't work did it?"

Voldemort threw a curse at him, fueled by his own frustrations, "I will admit that Potter is better at escaping my plans than expected, but the plan was a good one. She will be no danger to me without the full function of her brain. There are more than one way to drive a person crazy. This object will accomplish my goals without requiring a connection to Potter."

He let out a hard laugh as he put Draco back under a stinging curse, "Now, Draco, don't disappoint me this time or I might have to start removing body parts from your mother."


	8. Chapter 8

She should've known she was in for it the next day.

"Lady Potter," Loki drawled from the front of the room about halfway through the defense class.

She'd looked up in shock from her textbook where she had been reading the paragraph that he had assigned. Her eyes narrowed at the amusement she saw in his eyes. He was breaking the unspoken rules; she'd come to class, he'd teach, and she'd leave. No fighting, no talking.

Of course, he'd also caught her eavesdropping on the teachers and didn't turn her in, so she'd figured he'd have something planned.

"Yes?" she asked him.

"I require a volunteer," he told her.

The reading came to mind, and she groaned on the inside. No wonder he had switched them to a different section of the book, all about hiding and disguise.

She pushed back against the desk and went to the front of the room.

Loki's class had been decent so far. It was a far cry better than several of the defense teachers they'd had before. Harri was definitely not thinking about Lockhart's disastorious classes or anything.

He assigned readings for them to read before class, then he started each class using the magic or encountering the creature, similar to Remus. The biggest complaint was that he really only explained if someone asked a question. If not, he just assumed that they understood.

Harri understood his reasoning, but, did he really expect a bunch of teenagers to admit that they might be able to perform the spell but didn't really understood why it worked or the theory? No way.

At the front of the classroom, he smirked at her.

"Lady Potter, please cast the disillusionment charm on yourself," he told her.

Hermione raised her hand, "But Professor, that's an auror level charm and this is the first time we're learning the charm."

"Lady Potter already knows it," he said, still staring Harri down.

She frowned at him, wondering why he was making her show off. Still, she didn't appreciate Hermione doubting her like that.

Saying the incantation, she willed her magic like she had for over a year now to copy the effects of the disillusionment charm. She looked down to see that her body had changed. Unlike with her cloak, her body didn't disappear, she wasn't invisible. Instead, her body had completely changed in color and texture to match everything behind her.

"Now, I'm going to play a game of cat and mouse," he informed the class. "Potter, you are the mouse, and I am the cat."

He stalked forward, but Harri straightened her back, no matter how much her instincts were telling her to run away.

Silently, Loki cast a red spell at her, and she ducked. Loki had never used a wand that she had seen. His magic was different as well.

Then she was off.

She slipped around the room, her classmates eyes sliding over objects trying to find her again. She had seen how hard it was to follow someone with a disillusionment charm on them.

Despite the concealing charm, Loki seemed to be able to follow her. At least that her classmates seemed to have issues following her based on how their eyes would jump around the classroom.

Adding in his knives was just a low blow.

"Potter, can you keep the charm on your knives as well as yourself?" he taunted her as she drew out her own.

At the clash of their knives together, her charm did drop, it took too much concentration to try to keep a disillusionment charm going on herself and two objects while parrying with sharp objects.

Their knives were interlocked, but Loki leaned forward to whisper in her ear, "Your magic is different, and I want to know why."

She grunted and shoved him away. So that was the reason for this little demonstration, forcing herself to show her magic while he could analyze it.

Now that they understood each other, they both sheathed their weapons, realizing that the dance was no longer needed. Harri sighed as her classmates again looked scared of her.

Really, she was five foot nothing. They looked at her like she had suddenly grown three feet and started drooling like a troll.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Break~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

She had managed to avoid Loki by being in the middle of the pack of students out of the classroom.

Later that day, she found herself in Bruce's class, working independently. There was an odd number in the class, so she chose to work alone. At least she could work on some other stuff if she finished early.

At the start of the term, now that muggle studies was mandatory for all students, Bruce had laid out the framework for the class.

"There are three aspects that I feel are most lacking in your education here. You have to write essays in every other class, so your English and grammar skills are OK. Obviously you are receiving the best education as far as magic courses. But, you are severely lacking in all matters of science. Therefore, that will be my main priority as well as some units on uhm muggle history and culture," Bruce still sometimes tripped over the word muggle.

Today, he seemed to be combining social studies with science.

"Alright, we will be looking at the effects of the population explosion on land, resources, and pollution," he told the class.

The purebloods looked at each other in confusion. Harri saw Susan Bones mouth the words population explosion.

She raised her hand, "Professor, when you say population explosion…?"

"Right sorry, I mean the muggle population explosion of course," he pushed his glasses up on his nose and nodded at her.

"Muggles are exploding now?" Pansy sounded entirely too thrilled.

"No rather, the industrial revolution resulted in favorable conditions that enabled our resources to support a much larger population. In addition, advancements in health care have allowed people to live longer and have more children survive infancy, causing rapid population growth," Bruce said, starting to ramble with so many eyes staring at him, and accidentally slipping into more formal language.

Harri sighed, he was so much like Hermione sometimes.

In the end, it was Hermione who raised her hand, "What Professor Banner is saying, is the muggle population went from about 1.5 billion in 1900 to over 7 billion today. In only 100 years, it jumped 700%."

The purebloods now looked surprised, "There's that many muggles?"

"Well, that does include wizards, I believe, but from my understanding, the wizard population makes up less than 1% of the population of most countries," Harri could pretty much see Bruce doing calculations in his head. She could also see the gaping jaws and widening eyes of the purebloods as they started to grasp just how many muggles there actually were in the world.

"But, why are there so many more muggles while the wizarding population hasn't grown the same way," another student asked.

Harri had a pretty solid idea of why from the medical text she had been studying with Bruce, but how was he going to discuss inbreeding and limited gene selection with the purebloods.

"Uhm, well, there's several reasons that are most likely. One is the limited amount of genetic material currently in the population. For example, Feller and Waller collected data from wild populations that suggests this could lead to issues with the infants such as a lowered birth weight that combine to create lower survival rates. In addition, there is a lower fertility rate among such populations," he said, rubbing a hand through his hair and leading to more pieces sticking up.

Harri wondered what her hair would look like if she cut it as short as Bruce's. Definitely messy, but she doubted she'd have the nice curls he had. She amused herself by imagining herself with short messy hair while Dean Thomas spoke up.

"Basically, inbreeding," Dean Thomas said, and the uproar started.

Purebloods were yelling at the muggle borns who were yelling back just as fiercely. The half bloods seemed to be on the fence.

"That's why muggleborns are healthier, therefore stronger," one of the students was saying.

"We have the benefit of years of tradition and family secrets. Family magics," Daphne Greengrass was arguing.

Harri walked over to the large gong in the classroom. It was actually there for the social studies lessons on Asian cultures, but it would suit her purposes. She pulled her arms back and hit it as hard as she could.

On the floor above, the teachers froze in the teacher's lounge.

"Was that...a gong?" Professor Flitwick asked.

Professor Trelawney's wide eyes swept over the group, "The sound of the gong! Someone had experienced a horrible tragedy in their lives. We must all stay in this room until someone comes to fetch us or else we will be the one with the tragedy."

"If the tragedy has already happened, how can the person affected change based on who leaves the room?" Snape asked.

She gave him a disappointed look, "Severus, I am simply trying to protect us."

Back in Banner's classroom, most of the students had put their hands over their ears. Several had dropped to the ground thinking they were under attack.

"We are getting off topic. It's time for the activity," she told them calmly and then returned to her table.

"Ahh, thanks Ms. Potter, now, I'm going to pass each group a piece of poster paper. Try to brainstorm some ways that you think the sharp population increase from 1.5 billion to 7 billion may have affected the resources we have," he instructed the students.

He ran them through several other exercises getting them to think about the effects of population on the world.

Harri sped through the activities working by herself, then she pulled out her Algebra book.

Of course, someone had to notice her and say something.

Pansy raised her hand, "Professor, Potter is working on something she shouldn't be."

Bruce raised his eyebrows, "Really? Harri, what are you working on?"

"My algebra work," she told him calmly.

"Ahh, apparently you shouldn't be working on that," he said in amusement.

"Darn, I've been doing things I shouldn't for the entire term," she replied.

"If you've been doing it for that long, better just continue," he said and turned away.

The rest of the class was staring between the two in confusion. Pansy's satisfied smirk at getting Harri in trouble faded as it became clear that she was not, in fact, going to get in trouble.

As they left the classroom later, Hermione actually stopped Harri just outside of the classroom doorway.

"Why were you working on Algebra?" she asked.

"Cause I need to get it done by tomorrow, and I appreciated being able to ask Professor Bannor quickly if I had any questions," Harri told Hermione, slightly confused why it mattered.

"Why were you doing Algebra though? Is there another class available?"

Ahh there it was. Hermione was jealous that Harri seemingly had more of an opportunity to learn.

"Not exactly," Harri said, trying to squeeze away.

Hermione frowned, leaning closer and pinning Harry against the wall, "What does that mean? Is it available to everyone?"

"It is not," Bruce said, coming out of the classroom and looking over the situation, with Harri pressed against the stone wall and her ex-best friend demanding answers from her. While Bruce knew Harri could physically defend herself, he also knew that Hermione was an emotional risk to his young friend.

"Then why does SHE get to take an extra class?" Hermione demanded.

Ouch, Harri thought to herself.

Bruce seemed to think the same thing, "What does that mean, Ms. Granger?"

Hermione blushed as she thought through her statement, "Not, I didn't mean, I mean, it's just, Harri isn't really the first person that comes to mind for being offered a special class. She's not exactly the most studious, is she?"

Bruce's face seemed to harden slightly, "On the contrary, I have always found Harri to be completely studious."

"But if she's offered special classes, they should be offered to everyone too. It's only fair," Hermione's voice had taken on a slightly whiny tone that Harri might not have noticed or even chosen to overlooked back in fourth year.

"Technically, they are available to everyone, but the student would have to seek the option. Harri has chosen to take college correspondence courses through the Borough of Manhattan Community College. I am moderating them, similar to an advanced placement course in America," Bruce told her sharply.

Hermione gaped, "College classes? But that's…"

"A lot of work? Yeah, that's why I've been so busy this term. Though I think it's rich of you to say that a student shouldn't have access to opportunities to take additional courses unless its offered to everyone," Harri told her sharply.

Hermione blushed as she remembered the time turner from third year and her hypocrisy.

"Really, your problem isn't that someone got an opportunity for extra classes, your problem is just that you weren't the student given the opportunity," Harri continued.

Hermione blushed and looked down as she fled down the hallway.

Harri sighed. Bruce looked at her in concern.

"Are you OK?" he asked.

"Yeah. Listen, I know that seemed a bit rough, but she's had a rough term. And now with Ron sucking face with Brown all the time, she's been pretty alone. I mean, I have you guys, so she's been way more alone than me," she told him.

He nodded, but his face remained hard, "It may be true, but that does not excuse her actions."

She shrugged, "Hermione's always had a hard time with being a muggleborn. She's always wanted to prove her worth. She just needs to wake up and realize that her worth isn't found in her grades or how many classes she takes. I think she learned part of her lesson third year with the time incident, but she still has more to learn."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Break~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In December, the first signs that a war was starting to break out infiltrated the normally safe castle.

Lavender and Parvati acted like they were better than the other two girls now that Lavender was dating Ron.

They came into the dorms talking about how good Ron had done at the last Quidditch practice.

Harri couldn't resist leaning over and whispering to Hermione, "Weren't they complaining about Ron being on the team last year?"

Hermione snorted and sent a small smile at Harri who returned it.

Lavender and Parvati both glared.

Then Katie Bell walked into the dorm room.

"Hey, Potter, I need to give you this package," she said emotionlessly as she passed a wrapped package towards Harri.

"For me?" Harri asked in confusion, reaching out to grab it. "Whose it from?"

"I need to give it to you," Katie repeated herself.

Immediately, Harri pulled her hand back. She was pleased to see that Hermione had drawn her wand.

"Katie?" Hermione asked softly.

Katie's face snapped up, her eyes wide and bloodshot, "Potter, I need to give you this package. You have to put it on."

Harri jumped back and collided with the bed. She jumped onto it as Katie seemed to explode with motion, running towards the smaller girl and trying to shove the package into her.

"Katie, stop! This isn't you!" Harri yelled at her as she continued backing away from the girl.

"Put it on. Put it on. PUT IT ON!" Katie kept yelling at her.

"Hermione, get McGonagall!" Harri yelled. She kept backing away, glad the room was circular, so she couldn't get stuck in a corner. A glance at the door revealed a crowd of students growing. She spotted a defenseless first year mixed in with the crowd and knew she had to keep whatever was happening in the dorm.

Hermione fled from the room like a flash of lightning.

Katie tore the wrapping slightly as she gripped it with white knuckles.

"Katie, careful, don't touch the object," Harri warned, trying to come up with a plan.

She raised her hand and glued Katie's feet to the ground, but the girl fell to the ground, and kept trying to crawl at her. As Katie pushed the object with her hand, her bare skin brushed up against the glittering gold of the object.

Harri's breath caught in her throat as a glow started to form between Katie and the object.

The glow tried to pull Katie into the air, but Harri's sticking was keeping her pulled to the ground. Harri released the spell immediately when she heard a crack that sounded suspiciously like Katie's ankle bone.

Once Katie was suspended in the air, her body limp, the fingers of one hand tightly wrapped around the object, her hand started to lift the item onto her head. Harri noticed that the object seemed to be some sort of diadem.

"Katie, stop!" she yelled, but the girl already seemed to be unconscious despite her hand moving.

As the crown connected with Katie's head, she started to scream.

It was a horrible scream, so similar to the one that the Hulk had made when the tentacles touched his head. Without thinking, Harri reached forward and grabbed at the object.

As it left Katie's head, she flew to the ground hard, another crack filling the air as her ribs collided first. Blood leaked out of the ears and eyes.

Harri didn't have time to be concerned with Katie though. Immediately, a magical force attacked her, aiming for her mind shields.

With a start, she realized that they were shredding them, ripping them apart as though they were nothing. On the plus side, destroying her mental shields occupied the magic long enough that she could fling it away from her before it started shredding her mind.

She fell to the ground, her mind feeling violated and achy. Shields that had been in place for over a year were in tatters in her mind. Shields that had been helping her cope with the tesseract power and the remaining brain damage were gone.

Someone seemed to be lifting her.

"Ka-ka-kat-" she tried to get out the words, but the stutter was back.

So hard to connect.

"Shhhh, rest now," a voice was telling her. Did she know that voice?

Then it was dark.

It was dark for a long time.

But the darkness was not the same as stillness.

Harri knew that she was in her mind's palace. At least that was what they had called in Kamar Taj. The secret place of her mind.

The darkness felt hurt, scary. It was filled with movement without any sight.

She had to focus.

The darkness could not stay forever.

Slowly, she drew to mind her normal mind palace, the Hogwarts castle, but it would not develop. She could not make her mind look like it normally did when she visited during meditation.

So she stopped trying to pull up the castle.

She relaxed.

And slowly, so slowly it was as though she was an ant trying to move all of North America, her mind started to take shape.

It was a strange feeling, knowing that she was not truly at a place, but in her mental representation of a place.

A closet of a room with a rough wool blanket and one built in shelf holding a spare outfit and a few books.

Why had her brain created her room from Kamar Taj? It was so much simpler than the ornate Hogwarts.

Ahhh, perhaps it could only deal with simple right now.

She walked forward and pressed her hand against the many cracks running up and down the walls. One of the legs was snapped off of the bed, the blankets a mess. The outfit was hanging half off the shelf instead of folded nicely. It looked as though there has been an earthquake in the small room.

"OK, Harri, start with the easy stuff," she told herself as she moved to the outfit and folded it nicely. Then she sat it neatly on the shelf and placed the books beside it.

She walked to the bed and reattached the leg to the bed. She made the bed with corners so crisp and sheets so tight that it might be possible to bounce a penny off of it.

The walls were harder. Some of the cracks were over 2 inches wide. In some places, there were holes entirely through the wall. Chunks of plaster were falling off, crumbling.

"Hmmm, this is bad," she said. "I think I'll need help."

She tried to push herself out of her own mind back to reality. It was like trying to force yourself to wake up from a bad dream. Eventually, though, the understanding that this room was just her mind representing how badly her shields were damaged was enough to push her out.

Grit was gathered in her eyes. Her mouth felt dry and her lips were stuck together. She wondered how long she had been asleep in the bed.

She forced herself to keep waking up.

Her eyes opened slightly into slits. Bruce was sitting next to her, gentle brown eyes filled with worry. His clothes were wrinkled, and a coffee stain had long since dried on the tie.

"Bruce?" she asked.

"How do you feel?" he asked her gently.

"My head aches, shields, bad," she said.

"Yeah," he said.

She forced herself to open her eyes further and tried to sit up.

"Katie?" she asked.

Bruce swallowed and fiddled with his hair. That was his nervous tick. Why was he so nervous?

"Fine, right?" Harri asked.

Bruce looked away, "Listen, that object, the diadem, its meant to...well, destroy a brain."

"What?" Harri asked faintly.

Dumbledore made his presence at the end of the bed known by shuffling, Harri's eyes were drawn to him.

"Harri, I'm glad to see you awake," he told her. "We were quite worried about you."

"Sir, but Katie, alright?" she asked the older wizard, her speech still slightly disjointed.

Dumbledore closed his eyes and didn't say anything for a minute. His seriousness was its own answer, but she needed him to say it. Needed to know for sure.

"What do you know of Ravenclaw?" Dumbledore asked her instead.

"Sir?" she asked, frustrated at how he jumped around the question.

"Legend has it that Ravenclaw had a diadem. An ornate, goblin wrought piece that was meant to offer wisdom to the user. A wonderful gift. However, as we know, some people desire such gifts for evil purposes. Rowena Ravenclaw knew that such a diadem was also a dangerous gift, so she created a sort of safeguard for it. A false diadem, meant to attack the mind of anyone who put it on. Meant to shred their conscious. Originally, the two were placed side by side. Ravenclaw placed strong enchantments on them that read a person's intent, similar to the mirror of erised. With an intent to do good and help others, the person would find it impossible not to reach for the good diadem. For someone with evil intentions who wished to hurt others, they would reach for the bad diadem," Dumbledore told her.

"Crown...was...evil diadem?" Harri asked.

"I am certain that it is. I have long feared that Voldemort had found the good diadem, but I had not believed that he even knew of the existence of the evil diadem. Most legends tell only of the good one and the benefits. Still there are a few obscure books that mention the possibility of a false diadem that destroys knowledge instead of giving wisdom," he told her.

"So when Katie...put diadem...on her head?" Harri couldn't finish her thought.

"It attacked her brain, shredding it," Dumbledore said.

Harri felt bile rising in her throat. All she could think about was the feeling when the magical force had attacked just her shields. The problem was she could imagine the pain of that same force shredding through her actual brain instead of just her shields.

And Katie, she had felt that. That scream, the pain.

"Puke," Harri said, heaving.

Dumbledore conjured a bowl in Harri's lap, but only bile came out.

How long had she been in the Hospital Wing?

"Ms. Bell has been transferred to St Mungo's," Dumbledore told her.

"Can they even do...anything?" Harri asked.

Dumbledore bowed his head, "At this point, they doubt that they can repair her brain, but it looks like her body will live."

Harri gagged a little more.

"Now comes the matter of your own damage," Dumbledore said.

"Uhm, brain fine, but shields...shredded," Harri told Dumbledore.

"That is better than my worst fears," Dumbledore sounded relieved. "Do you think you'll be able to repair your shields?"

Harri shook her head, "I already tried. I might be able to do...some sort of butcher...job of putting them... together, but I can't heal them."

"How does your mind feel?" Bruce asked, aware of what she was like before.

"Rough. My shields...sort of...prosthetic...bits that hadn't completely healed. Now...feel harder, ...trying to drag myself on...arms instead of...wheelchair," she told them.

Dumbledore nodded, "I understand. We have to repair your shields. Unfortunately, while I am a good occlumencer and legilimencer, I would not say that repairing someone else's shields is one of my skills. I will be back."

He left the hospital room and Harri turned to Bruce, "Hey."

"Hi."

"How long...here?" she asked him.

"Since last night, I think it's about six in the evening today," he told her.

She looked around and spotted a pile of chocolates on the table at the foot of the bed. Bruce shrugged when she turned quirked eyebrows at him.

"Your classmates were concerned. Hermione spent most of the day here, and even Mr. Weasley stopped by with Ms. Brown once," Bruce told her. "Hermione seems to have put your college classes out of her mind for now."

They sat in comfortable silence until Dumbledore returned, pulling Loki and Snape behind him. Bruce and Harri shared a wide eyed look.

"Now, these two have the most experience with such matters. It was late in my life that I learned the mental magics, but these two have been performing them for almost all of theirs," Dumbledore said happily.

The two he was referring to did not seem to share his happiness.

"Dumbledore, this is absurd. With her mind open, anyone could read her mind and would know that I assisted her. It would risk my position as a spy and also my life," Snape hissed at the headmaster.

"That is exactly why we must repair her shields. You said yourself that her shields had been practically impenetrable before this. They must be returned to that state or as close as possible," Dumbledore insisted.

"Then what am I required for? Healing damaged school girls was not part of my agreement to my father," Loki drawled.

Dumbledore turned twinkling eyes on the man, "Ahh, while Severus is quite adept at healing shields from his regular experiences with Voldemort who delights in shredding shields, he is still only human and has his limitations. With both of you, I fully believe you can repair the damage."

Both men crossed their arms and stared Dumbledore down.

He must have something on both of them, because, after staring them down for several minutes, they each separately grunted and nodded once. Harri wondered what leverage the old man had on each of them.

They came over to her side of the bed, but she shuffled backwards.

"Whoah," she held up her hands, "Isn't anyone...ask my opinion? I don't want...two anywhere near my brain!"

"No, we aren't going to ask your opinion, child, because it does not matter," Loki grabbed her shoulder. Her eyes closed as she was pushed back into her own mental scape. Snape grabbed her other shoulder and followed the other two minds.

Bruce's face was hard, one hand reaching out to pull Loki away, but Dumbledore stopped him with a hand on his shoulder.

"How can you just trust those two not to destroy her mind?" he asked Dumbledore, eyes green.

"I know that Loki is under spells from his mother not to harm any students at this school. He is incapable of hurting her no matter how much he complains. Snape is also under oath to protect her," Dumbledore told him. "I trust them not to destroy her mind, because it would be impossible for them to do such."

The hardness in Bruce's face left and the green left his eyes as he understood.

Inside of Harri's mind, Loki had already walked over to the walls and started the examine the cracks as Snape and Harri both stumbled as they gained their bearings. Loki raised long fingers towards the crack. A sick feeling crept into Harri's stomach, and she raised her hand.

"Stop!" she yelled, but even as Loki turned startled eyes towards her, she knew it was too late as his fingers brushed against the crack.

Instantly, it was as though the three had been deposited on the super spinning ride that Harri had ridden at the amusement park in America. Flashes of colors and lights spun faster and faster around them. She felt sick as everything spun around her.

Just as suddenly, it stopped.

With a giant squelching noise, Harri found the lights and colors had blended into a moving picture, Dudley's eleventh birthday.

She opened her eyes from their mostly closed position and looked around her in interest, taking in herself standing by the stove, flipping bacon, Aunt Petunia's high pitched voice.

"Curious," a voice drawled behind her, and she spun around to see Snape and Loki.

It was slightly gratifying to see that Snape looked disconcerted, though Loki had a single finger raised and a pensive look on his face. As he bent the finger slightly, the image sped up faster as though being fast forwarded.

Soon they were at the zoo scene with the snake, and Loki straightened his finger. The memory went back to normal speed.

"What are you doing to my brain?" Harri demanded.

He waved a hand at her, "Be quiet child, I am trying to pay attention."

She stalked over to him, about to demand that he explain himself or just stop, but he shook his head and suddenly they were back in the rainbow stream of what she now realized were all of her memories.

Then they were standing in a memory of her second week in Professor McGonagall's classes, her successful attempt at changing the toothpick into a needle.

"Here your magic is normal for Midgardians. When did it change? Hmm, I think we had better jump several years," Loki mused before she could get her bearings enough to grab him.

They were in the memory stream for longer. While she felt like she was hurtling through her own memories, Loki appeared to be flying calmly along. His face was pensive as he stared into the stream. She wondered how he could possibly comprehend so much so quickly. This time she could also see Snape starting to turn green. Harri suspected that he liked to drive not be a passenger drug along.

"Stop it," she said, recognizing the next memory instantly.

That moment in the bathroom where she couldn't tell if the water was fire or not. It was interesting to be able to see what her mind had been comprehending.

She walked over to Loki and tried to grab him, but her hand passed through his shoulder.

"Mental scape, not real," he said, still watching.

She huffed and considered stomping her foot like a child, "I said stop it. I don't want to watch this."

"Ahh, but I do," Loki said, turning away from her and effectively ignoring her again.

She turned to Snape, but he also seemed interested.

Her eyes tightened and a pit formed in her stomach as she watched her body start to writhe on the body. It was a weird view, as though they were onlookers watching but also able to see through her eyes as a proper memory.

"There is the beginning," Loki finally said, "The channels of your magic were destroyed as your magic attacked the essence in your body. It had been there since you were so little that it had long shaped your magic with its presence. But you tore it. You should not be able to perform magic any longer."

Snape snorted, "Clearly the girl can still perform magic. Something else must have happened."

Loki rolled his eyes, "You do not truly look. Her magic is different. She can use that strong wand, but does not need to. Most of the time she simply wills her magic to do what she wants. Why do you not use the wand?"

Both turned their eyes on her, Loki's piercing and Snape's considering. She swallowed once.

"Uhm, it's very powerful," she finally offered.

"Do you fear power?" Loki asked, suddenly closer to her.

She looked up into his green eyes and felt stuck there, like a mouse before a cat. As much as she had trained and practiced, Loki was allowing some of his human visage to fade away and reveal the warlock who had trained on Asgard and performed magic for centuries. The sheer power of it spread around them, crushing down on her, showing her his true power. Her knees felt weak, and she thought she might collapse, but she met his eyes straight on.

Voldemort was powerful. Dumbledore was powerful. Having power did not make you good or evil.

"You hid your power," she accused him. "That is much stronger than what we faced in New York."

He shrugged, "Perhaps, but now you are avoiding my question."

"I don't know why it matters to you," she snapped back.

Suddenly, Loki was out of her personal space. She tried to take a deep breath without them noticing.

His eyes had grown distant; his mind probably looking through his own memories.

"I have not hidden that I had visited Midgard before. I knew the wizards when they were truly something fierce. While most of the population were barely better than apes, the wizards were capable of strong magic, though still nowhere near as strong as Mother Frigga. Then it faded to a batch of weaklings dependant on a dead language and little sticks. Now I find you, capable of much, especially after touching the Tesseract but you seem afraid of your power. There is no one on this forsaken rock who is capable of helping it except for you, but you won't grasp the power needed to do so," he finally said.

Harri's eyebrows rose, surprised that he had decided to reveal so much to her.

"The value of a person is not in how many spells they can perform, but what they choose to do with what they know," she retorted.

He sent her a measuring look, "I would say it is a mixture of both what you can do and what you choose to do with it. When I was controlled, I saw many of their plans. None of it was good for Earth. I am stuck here as penance for my actions against the people. I don't plan on being stuck on a planet that burns as its enemies destroy it. If you had to take hold of power to save this place, would you?"

She nodded once.

He considered before nodding back, "Then we must fix these shields. Snape, the memories will need put back into the correct order. Currently her shields are cracked because nothing lines up the way it should. It also means her brain must work harder to form speech or actions because nothing is smooth."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Break~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dumbledore and Bruce looked up from their card game as the three bodies suddenly stirred with life.

Snape leapt away from Harri as though she was burning him, and sent the other two a sneer before glaring at Dumbledore.

"Never again," he growled, "I have spent HOURS having to sort through the bint's memories and put them back into order."

Dumbledore chuckled, "I feel that this was a good exercise for you, Severus. Her shields are repaired then?"

"Unfortunately not to the level they were before. They are admirable, but certainly not impenetrable."

Dumbledore's face darkened slightly, "That is not as good as I had hoped for, but we must take what we can."

"We have more time, I'm sure I can keep working on them," Harri said.

Dumbledore coughed slightly, and the four all turned their attention to him. He smiled at them.

"We do have time, do we not, Dumbledore?" Snape asked.

He twinkled at them, "Perhaps not as much as one might wish for such things. In fact, we have already spent more time than would have been preferable."

"What does that mean?" Bruce asked.

"There is a contingency of Death Eaters on their way to the castle to slip in the way that young Mr. Malfoy opened. I have delayed them at the edge of the wards nearly as long as I am able. Soon, my strength will be too low, and they will slip in," Dumbledore said all this as though he was merely discussing which brand of lemon drop to eat.

They stared at him.

"What?" it came out of Harri's throat as a strangled question.

"Yes, unfortunately we must hurry through the next step. I have long known that Mr. Malfoy would eventually find a hole in the wards. After all, no place is perfect. It actually is quite ingenious, you see he simply moved one of the ward stones which makes it sound as though it could be moved back, but that would cause the entire wards to collapse because of how tightly he has pulled the wards. Any further away and they would have snapped back, cutting through his magic. An attempt to return them would be like bending and unbending a spoon so many times that the entire head snaps off. Definitely worthy of house points had he still been a student and not doing it with the intention of allowing evil men through the wards. Still, with a few proper warders, some strong ward stones, and a lot of time, we can fix it. Since we do not have two of the three, we simply need to prepare for an attack," Dumbledore said, getting lost several times throughout the explanation and being brought back by a sharp cough from Snape.

"An attack? Oh this is the last place I need to be," Bruce said, running his hands through his hair.

A loud bang startled them as Clint kicked off one of the vent covers and jumped down into the room.

"I've been preparing for this since I first came last year," he said to the assortment of wands and weapons pointed at him, "I have an entire defense plan worked out starting with hiding the first through third graders in the kitchen."

"First through third years, not third graders," Bruce hissed under his breath, and Clint shrugged.

"Ehh, I still don't get these British terms, but that needs to be phase one," he insisted.

Dumbledore waved his hand and a tea set appeared. He poured Loki a glass who settled onto the bed as the prince he was. When he offered Clint a glass, the flared nostrils seemed to clue him in.

"Ahh, Professor Barton, I am simply offering you a glass of tea. Would you prefer something else to drink?" he asked.

"Is this really the time for tea?" Harri butted in when it looked like the soldier in Clint was going to make him say something he shouldn't.

"I thought it may help with the mood," Dumbledore pouted, before sighing, "Ah to have such energy of youth. Still, you are correct, our time is starting to diminish so I shall explain. I require you to stop the Death Eater attack. If the younger students should be hidden in the kitchens, then so be it."

"And what will you be doing?" Snape asked.

Dumbledore twinkled at him, "I'm so glad you asked! I will be faking my own death."

"What?" several of them asked it at the same time. Even Loki raised his eyebrows.

"Voldemort is not going to stop attacking Hogwarts as long as I am here. It is a matter of pride to him. If he thinks I am dead, the students will be safer, and I will be free to spend all of my time hunting the Horecruxes," Dumbledore said.

Harri was suddenly reminded of her opinion of the old headmaster during her first feast.

Brilliant, but absolutely insane.

"And you would leave the defense of the school on our five shoulders?" Snape drawled.

Dumbledore twinkled at them, "Finer defenders I could not find anywhere I am certain. The best of the best here."

Harri felt her shoulders straighten slightly at the pride in the old man's voice.

He glanced at his watch, "We have about 34 minutes before my strength fails. I will be on the Astronomy Tower. Voldemort is not with them, just his minions. I trust the five of you to keep the students safe. McGonagall will take over when I am gone. When things have settled down, meet me at the oldest tree in Britain."

With those words, Dumbledore disappeared with a crack.

"Why is the Headmaster allowed to apparate in Hogwarts grounds?" Harri complained to herself before looking at the men sitting around her.

Loki looked the picture of nonchalance, but a hardness in his eyes suggested that he was actually taking things seriously. Clint had his serious face on, but she could practically smell his excitement at getting to do more than just work out. Snape had his emotionless mask in place, and Harri could tell nothing from him. Bruce was running his hand through his curls, making it stick up even worse. She wanted to grab his hands and let him check her pulse, but she decided it wasn't a good setting.

They were all gathered around her bed, so she straightened her shoulders and slipped out from under the covers. The hospital gown melted seamlessly into her Kamar Taj robes, and she checked that all of her weapons were in their places. Silently, she also did a mental check, feeling the weakness of the repairs on her brain.

"Alright team, what's our plan then?" she finally asked them before turning to Clint.

**Author's Note: **

**Chapter Eight! Sorry this took so long, apparently I had 5,000 words already written and forgot about it for nearly two months. Just remembered I had that much written, so I edited it out and added in some scenes before sending it to you guys. Hope you all like it! **

**Plus, did anyone else see the news about the new movies and shows coming out in Phase Four? I'm so excited! **

**Anyway, let me know what you think in a review! Do you like the direction of the story? Any suggestions for future chapters? I look forward to reading the reviews! **


	9. Chapter 9

Clint stepped into the middle of the group.

He rubbed his hands together and looked at each of them in the eyes, "Alright, ETA is 30 minutes. Snape, set an alarm please. This is a three phase defense. First, we allocate all first to third students in the kitchens and give the House Elves the order to attack on sight. Second, we take all fourth to seventh year students to the Room of Requirement and see if we can set the room to defend mode. It worked in a trial run I did a few weeks back. Finally, the five of us will go on the offense and absolutely destroy the enemy!"

With a flick of Snape's wrist, a large countdown appeared floating by the group as Snape raised his eyebrows, "Why would you separate the students? And, what will the other teachers be doing?"

Clint started pacing in the area in front of them. Harri watched as his expressions became closed off, and he changed from her friend, Clint, to her colleague, Hawkeye, a person she would trust walking into any battle with.

"Battle tactics, partially developed from the Battle of Helm's Deep. We don't want to put all of the students in one location. Then, it'll be clear which area we are defending. If they get past us, it's a straight shot to the children. This way, even if some slip past us, they still have to find the children. Second, the teachers will be spread out among the two groups of students as a third form of defense," Clint explained.

Loki and Snape looked even more confused when Clint mentioned the Battle of Helm's Deep, but Bruce leaned over and whispered, "Muggle book, Lord of the Rings."

"You are basing our battle tactics off of a book?" Loki asked, black eyebrows arching high.

"Only the best book ever! Plus, they have an archer that I strive to emulate," Clint said, then pointed an accusing finger at Harri and Bruce, "But you are not telling Tony that!"

They held up placating hands even as Harri grinned widely.

Snape did not look appeased though, "I do not know if you remember what happened last year, but we nearly lost the battle at the ministry. What makes you think we will do better against an entire army? I have no desire to risk my life when we are almost certain to lose."

Clint strode out the door, "25 minutes! I'll explain on the way!"

The other four followed after the shorter man's quick pace.

Because it was a Tuesday afternoon, the students and teachers were all in different classrooms throughout the school. The group started by going to McGonagall.

Clint barged into the classroom, door banging against the wall in his rush. McGonagall had turned angry eyes on the man, mouth open to scold when she saw the entire assorted group.

"Death Eater attack imminent! First through third years in the kitchens, fourth and above to the room that Umbridge found. House elves should be told to attack on sight and room asked for a place to defend the students," he fired off quickly.

McGonagall hesitated only long enough to turn to Snape who silently agreed with a nod of his head. The color drained out of her face as she realized the implications of that statement. She turned to her seventh year students in class who were silently watching them.

"Snape, send off patronuses to all the teachers, I'll send one as well. Head Boy and Girl, you are both in this class, I need you to gather the Prefixes and help the teachers to carole students to those locations. Otherwise, follow me to the seventh floor corridor," she ordered, "Leave your items! Just follow!"

From the tip of hers and Snape's wands, many silvery patronuses flowed out. McGonagall's took the shape of a small tabby cat while Snape's doe formed out of his wand.

Harri caught Bruce and Clint watching the ghostly animals in fascination, so she took out Dumbledore's old wand and cast the patronus charm herself. Her own stag took form and nudged her two friends who couldn't help but smile despite the circumstances.

"Patronus, h-h-happy emotions," she told them.

Then Clint glanced at the clock that was down to 20 minutes.

"Ok, here's our plan. I located some weaknesses in our first attack on the ministry, plus we now have Loki. Things should be squarely in our courts. The Hulk appeared to be impervious to magic, much like trolls. What got him in the ministry was those tentacle things that went after your brain. Key thing here would be to avoid those things, but we are going to keep Harri near you. Any tentacle guys, cast that severing charm again. Other than that, smash at will," Clint told Bruce who hesitantly nodded even though he looked less than happy about calling out the Hulk. Then he turned to Harri.

"Like I said, you'll stay by Bruce. Use him as a human shield. I want you to cast that disillusionment charm on yourself and go after them with your blue bolts of light. They can go through any magical shield that we've discovered so far. You two will be right inside the main doors," he ordered her.

Snape's commands were next, "You know some lethal spells. Without using anything illegal, I want you to just go crazy on them. Do as much damage as you possibly can. We'll apply your mask again, but it is possible that your identity could become compromised. I would like you to set up on the ground level as well, closer to the kitchens without being outside the door of it."

Finally, Clint turned to Loki, "You are literally from mythology. As much as I dislike you, you single handedly took on the entire Avengers team with your army and did very well for yourself. I doubt you will have any issues. I want you starting on the ground floor with Bruce and Harri, then moving upstairs as needed. If anyone gets past us on the ground floor, you make sure they don't make it to the seventh floor."

Loki raised a single eyebrow, "And what will you be doing?"

Clint frowned, "Similar to the battle of New York, I will be staying high on the staircase and turrets and running information. Harri, can I borrow your invisibility cloak? I'll pick them off from above with my arrows while also letting you guys know what happens."

Harri nodded and silently willed her magic to bring her cloak. Once it reached her hands, she passed it over to Clint, who clipped it around his neck. Instantly, his body disappeared, with only his head remaining.

The clock listed only 3 minutes left. The group had moved to the Entrance Hall, right outside of the Great Hall and now stood facing the doors.

"Loki, cast a spell so that we can hear each other in our ears like the little earbuds we use in the muggle world," Clint commanded.

Loki waved his hand and suddenly a low buzzing sound started in Harri's right ear.

"Awesome," she could hear Clint's comment like he was whispering in her ear, but when she turned her head, he was already climbing up the staircase, bypassing the actual stairs to jump up from banister to banister.

A banging sound started on the massive front door. Harri cast her version of the disillusionment charm and she blended into the stones.

"Time for the other guy," Clint announced, Bruce was still watching the front doors apprehensively and missed as Clint shot an arrow at his back.

The explosion like sound the doors shattering off their hinges and flying backwards was drowned out slightly by the roar of the Hulk as the green creature instantly took over Bruce's body.

"You could have just asked him like Captain America," she scolded Clint lightly as she took to the air and started shooting her signature blue bolts at the Death Eaters.

"I've always wanted to do that, I'm not missing my opportunity for politeness sake," Clint replied.

The battle was instantly under way as various Death Eaters surged into the Entrance Hall. Unlike the battle at the Ministry, this time they all wore the traditional masks. With their hard plastic face pieces, it was nearly impossible to distinguish who was who.

Harri took to the air and started firing blue bolts at the enemy. She didn't believe they would kill the Death Eaters, but more like a giant stun gun that sent them unconscious.

On the ground, the Hulk was going full force, grabbing hold of one person and using the body as a club to take out groups of the enemy. Harri didn't think any of them would be getting back up; she winced as she heard a wet splat sound as the Death Eater in the Hulk's hand was smashed against the stones.

"Harri, on your right!" Clint called in her ear and she turned her head to shoot the Death Eaters trying to slip past.

That was the biggest problem in the hall, while the Death Eaters were no match for them, there were so many surging around that it was hard for Harri and the Hulk to get every single one.

Like the jail break game when everyone gets released from prison at the same second and the persecutors are forced to decide which groups would give the largest numbers, single players slipping past.

Clint was trying to direct them to areas where people were slipping by, and she could hear Loki asking where to go occasionally, but she mostly focused just on hitting as many as she could.

Harri could feel her reactions getting slower as she spent so much energy. Her bolts were slightly less bright, and sometimes it took two bolts to knock one of the Death Eaters unconscious.

The good news was that the tide of Death Eaters was also starting to slow down now that the original push went through. Bodies were piled three deep around the pair, and Harri had no idea which people were dead and which were simply injured or unconscious.

"The window!" Clint called, and Harri swung her head to look.

Falling fast was a blur of bright colored robes and a long beard.

Her breath caught in her throat as she realized she was watching what looked like Dumbledore's body falling from the Astronomy Tower. Her eyes couldn't look away as the body hit the ground with a thud, looking broken like a smashed porcelain doll.

"I hope his plan worked," she muttered mostly to herself, but she could hear Clint's grunt of agreement as the two watched.

Then a silkier voice cut in, Snape talking to someone.

"I have not been on your side in a long time, Montague," he was saying.

Harri realized instantly what was happening, and she flew down the hallway like a bullet, trying to reach her old potions professor. As she neared him, she took in the scene, Snape being held taut by conjured robes, two Death Eaters with wands pointed at him, one holding the mask Snape had been wearing.

As she approached, she already knew she would be too late, and she met Snape's eyes where he looked back at her without any fear. She thought that she perhaps saw peace in those eyes as the Death Eaters both waved their wands.

"NO!" she yelled.

And then, the Death Eaters were flying backwards as Loki blasted them with a bolt of green light, and Snape dropped to the ground as the ropes holding him lost their tautness.

Loki offered a hand to the man, and Harri watched as Snape paused before grabbing the hand.

"It is nice to have someone else at this school who realizes what a bunch of idiots there are here," Loki said, picture of nonchalance.

Snape nodded, "Indeed."

Harri couldn't help but laugh at the two men who each shot her a reproachful glance.

"Hey guys, there may be trouble on the seventh floor. I can hear minor explosions," Clint said into the earpiece.

Loki's eyes looked troubled, "I had thought I had gotten all the Death Eaters on the sixth floor, but I came as soon as I realized there was trouble here. A few may have slipped past me."

Harri nodded once, and took back to the air even though every one of her muscles were starting to shake from exhaustion. It took a lot of energy to fly, but it would get her to the seventh floor faster than anyone else in the group.

"We'll cover your back," Snape said as she flew off.

It took her only a minute to reach the seventh floor corridor where the door to the Room of Requirement was blown open. Shouting could be heard from the gaping hole.

Harri didn't hesitate to fly into the midst of the room, quickly taking in and cataloguing the scene were a Death Eater with wild, curly black hair had Professor McGonagall held at wand point, laughing at the seventh years and Professor Flitwick who all had their wands pointed back at her.

Before the woman who must have been Bellatrix could react to Harri literally flying into the room, Harri had shot straight at her, using her body like a bullet to knock the crazed woman away from McGonagall.

The force of her hit knocked them back to the ground in a heap of wild black hair and tangled limbs.

Harri immediately tried to grapple for control, flipping on top as Bellatrix reached for her wand. In the tussle, the Death Eater mask was knocked off and Bellatrix's laughing face appeared beneath Harri.

"Back for more Potty!" she cackled, getting a slight hold and flipping the fighting mess over. She laughed on top of Harri, rancid breath causing Harri's nose to crinkle even as she struggled all the harder.

While Harri had nearly two years of training in hand to hand combat, Bellatrix had adrenaline and pure insanity working for her plus over six inches of height and weight on Harri.

As the older woman's hands wrapped around her wand and drew it back to cast a spell, Harri slipped one of her knives into her hand and jabbed it straight up into Bellatrix's chest.

The laughing face finally changed into an expression of open mouth shock as Bellatrix's hand reached for her chest where the shining hilt of Harri's knife was sticking out. Bellatrix's eyes lost their focus as she slumped forward.

Harri grunted as the larger woman's weight collapsed onto her, but then people were there pulling her off. Clint was there, patting Harri down and making sure she was OK.

It felt like a daze had descended over her as she realized that she had just killed a woman. Bellatrix's blood covered the front of her cream colored robes, the red sticking out starkly.

"Come on kid, hold it together for a little longer. Get your knife," Clint whispered almost too quietly for even Harri to hear as he hauled her to her feet. She took one staggering step and pulled the foot long knife from the body, wiping the blade off on her own pants before sheathing it.

Taking a deep breath and trying to compartmentalize as she had been taught, she turned around to the students and teachers who were huddled together, all staring at her with horrified expressions.

McGonagall was the first to break away, marching over to Harri and looking over her.

Harri met her eyes silently.

Then, McGonagall's arms were reaching out, wrapping Harri in a deep hug.

"Thank ya, child," the Scottish's woman's brogue was thick.

Harri hugged the woman back for strength before turning to the students, "Stay here, we'll check that all of the Death Eaters are apprehended.

Before she could even turn around, a low humming sound filled the air that steadily grew in pitch. Within seconds, everyone was covering their ears at the high pitched noise before it seemed to pop and the foundations of the castle shook.

As suddenly as it started, everything stopped and the castle was still.

Harri stood back up and met Clint's eyes, both silently asking the other what was happening before they received their answer as Bellatrix's body shook before disappearing.

"The a-a-a-apparation wards!" Harri called.

She took back to the air, not sparing her classmates a glance as many of them gasped at the sight of seeing her fly without a broom and took off back towards the first floor.

In her ear, her fears were confirmed as Snape's choked voice said, "The mark...is...calling"

She reached the man who was starting to shake as Bellatrix had, all around them the bodies of Death Eaters were also disappearing as Voldemort called them back to himself.

"NO!" she yelled as her hands grabbed hold of Snape, sending her magic out to assess.

The magic quickly found the active strand of black magic centered around the Dark Mark and leading back to Voldemort.

"He'll kill you," she said as her own magic fought to hold Snape here.

"It would...be...a...fair...penance," he said, voice strangled as he used all of his strength to fight the pull on his body.

"I'm not asking for penance," she said as Harri's magic finally started to severe the connection of magic, cutting off Voldemort's ability to pull Snape to him.

Her magic didn't stop as the connection was severed but went into the arm and started cutting out the lingering traces of Voldemort's magic, much as it had with the Horecrux in her forehead.

She closed her eyes, moving beyond exhaustion to a state of magical depleted ness as her magic continued to remove the connection.

"That is enough, child," a voice said, arms grabbing her as a green magic reached out and seemed to scold her own magic. Its tendrils were stronger than any magic she had encountered before as the green magic stopped her magic and pushed it back into her body. The green magic even gave some of itself to her, keeping her core from being empty.

The green magic washed over the situation, checking that everything had been severed before it retreated as well.

Harri opened her eyes a crack as she was held in strong arms, surprised to see Loki's face above her.

"Foolish child," he frowned at her, "How will it help anything if you kill yourself from magical exhausation?"

She felt indignant, but was too tired to reply.

Unlike most of these situations though, she never actually lost consciousness, and by the time they had returned to the Entrance Hall, she struggled to be let down.

Loki sat the fighting teenager on her feet as the children and staff started to come out of hiding and back into the area. Harri ignored the gaping crowds as she walked over to the Hulk still stomping around, putting dents in the ancient stones.

The green being turned and roared at her, leading to all of the staff pulling their wands, but Harri continued with pause.

"Hulk smash!" it yelled, but Harri frowned at it.

"T-t-thank you, but now I n-n-n-need Bruce," she told the green beast.

It huffed and growled even as she started willing her magic into cheering and calming magic. She directed it at the Hulk who started to twitch and shrink.

"Haven't seen you do that before," Clint commented next to her, appearing to just stand there, but silently giving her some support. She gratefully leaned against him.

"N-n-n-new method," she stuttered out.

With only a few more painful looking spasms, Bruce was laying before them in his purple shorts.

Harri walked forward and helped him to his feet, the two leaning on each other with Clint standing strong beside them. Snape and Loki walked over to them.

Snape and Harri met eyes, and he gave her a silent nod that she returned.

Then, the five turned at the sound of footsteps. More of the students were coming out, standing around the five in a semicircle.

Most of the students and staff looked amazed, some looked fearful.

McGonagall stepped forward, "Where is Dumbledore?"

Harri's eyes widened, "Oh no!"

The five led the way outside to the base of the Astronomy Tower where they found the body. Harri could only hope that Dumbledore had succeeded, and it truly was a fake because the body laying there looked exactly like him.

The body was bent in so many wrong ways. Blood was trickling out of the eye and ear sockets. Sky blue eyes staring up into the sky.

She heard several loud sobs behind her as she walked over and closed his eyes. Bruce checked for a pulse while Madam Pomfrey cast a diagnostic charm. Both of them looked at each other and shook their eyes.

That was when Harri let herself start to sob.

Big, chest heaving sobs.

She knew he wasn't really dead, but in that moment, it felt like he was. It was all too much.

Killing Bellatrix.

Shooting so many people.

The Horcruxes and the recent damage to her brain.

Katie.

Harri started sobbing and quickly found that she couldn't stop.

Someone pulled her against them and let her cry into a soft cotton shirt that absorbed the tears easily.

A hand was patting her hair and softly telling her it everything would be alright.

She ended up in the Hospital Wing being given a calming draught by a sympathetic Madam Pomfrey. Clint took the offered draught, but asked her, "Does she have to take this? Wouldn't it be good to just let her work through her emotions for a minute?"

Pomfrey hesitated before nodding, "Probably better to work through it now rather than try to delay the inevitable."

Harri cried for a long time.

Eventually, the sobs turned to tears that turned to gasps that turned to hiccups.

Finally she could breathe again, so she turned to Clint.

He sent her a tired smile, "Hey."

"Hey."

"Everythings gonna be OK," he told her.

She hummed non committedly, "Where's Bruce?"

"Got detained by McGonagall and some of the staff. They are trying to figure out what he is. Right now I think they've decided some sort of troll hybrid," Clint rolled his eyes.

Harri frowned, "We'd better go rescue him."

It took some talking, but they eventually got Bruce released as the staff learned that Dumbledore and Snape had long known that Bruce could turn into the Hulk, plus there had long been rumors about it since the incident with Umbridge last year. They also believed that Bruce had been brought onto staff as extra protection against Voldemort.

When the group was finally released after a lot of questioning, Bruce, Clint, and Harri headed back to Bruce's quarters, they're normal hang out spot.

This visit wasn't as light hearted as it normally was. No teasing jokes.

Just Bruce and Harri curled up on the couch and Clint sitting at the table sharpening knives.

Eventually Clint excused himself.

Bruce turned to Harri and helped her up, "Come on, let's get you back to your dorm."

She dug her heels in, "No, can't I stay here? I don't want to go back to that dorm room. Please Bruce?"

It was the please that did him in, along with the wide green eyes that looked too close to tears again.

Silently, he nodded.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Break~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It didn't take long for the students to turn on Harri once they had learned what she could do.

McGonagall delayed as long as she could, and Dumbledore's funeral also prevented the students from complaining too quickly.

Unsurprisingly, it was Ron who led the fear campaign.

"She's not safe to be here!" he yelled at the high table where McGonagall had taken over Dumbledore's head spot, a group of students gathered around him nodding.

"Mr. Weasley, I'm telling you right now to return to your seat!" McGonagall warned, her voice dangerously stern, "The young lady who you are barraging doubtlessly just saved your life."

"But what measures did she use to save them? In her quest to defeat Voldemort, she's becoming just like him! Everyone knows that only really dark wizards can fly without a broom or carpet!" Hannah argued back.

Harri rolled her eyes and took a seat at the Gryffindor table.

It was nice to see that Hermione clearly wasn't agreeing with Ron, but the pitying looks that Hermione did send her way sent red flags up Harri's back.

Then it was Christmas break, and the members of the Avenger's team were heading back to New York City.

Tony seemed to be trying to outdo himself with large parties filled with equal amounts of important people and beautiful people. It was all very disconcerting to Harri.

Christmas morning dawned bright and cold. Light streamed through Bruce's bedroom windows; light falling on the pair curled up in his bed. Harri squished her toes down into the shag rug next to the bed when she finally stood up.

Silently, she padded over to the dresser and grabbed two wrapped boxes, one holding a new stethoscope that was engraved with Bruce's name. The other held a lumpy, handknitted sweater.

Bruce looked up at her in confusion as he opened the sweater, "Thank you?"

"I made it myself," she said softly as she picked at some lint on his bed.

Bruce's eyes got soft as he looked at the tiny girl in front of him who was somehow turning into more of a woman than a girl. Rather than saying anything, he just pulled on the sweater and received a wide happy grin.

In return, Bruce walked to his closet and pulled out a small potted that he handed to Harri.

"It's Jasmine plant. One of those flowers you used to pick all the time when we were in India," he said, hands running through his messy curls and making several pieces stick up even more.

Any reply Harri may have made was stopped by Clint and Tony barging into the room.

"You raided a grandmother's closet for my Christmas gift? That's so cheap," Tony snarked as he walked in carrying his sweater. Clint had already joyfully pulled his sweater on.

The pair grabbed the other two and pulled them into the living room. Clint pulled the sweaters onto both Tony and Natasha. Harri opened the door to let Steve in when the doorbell rang, and Thor let himself in through the helicopter landing pad.

"Where did the idea for the sweaters come from?" Natasha asked as they settled into the various chairs with cups of coffee or hot chocolate.

Harri blushed, "Something one of my classmate's mother used to do for her family. I figured a team was a lot like a family, and you bloody Yanks weren't civilised enough to make sweaters so I'd have to continue the tr-tr-tradition."

"Well on that sappy note, let's get a group photo!" Tony, as always, ruined the moment as he jumped up and pulled everyone in front of the tree. "Jarvis, take a photo."

Clint was pulling Natasha back into the frame, while Steve looked in the wrong direction. Thor had grabbed Tony at the last minute in a headlock while the smaller man tried to defend his hair. Harri was standing next to Bruce, both of her arms wrapped him, tucked against his side, one of his arms around the top of her shoulders. Pepper was the picture of prim and proper, with a beautiful smile on her face.

And they were all in a handmade sweater from Harri with designs special to them.

Then it was time to make cinnamon rolls where everyone ended up covered in flour and powdered sugar, dough flung onto counters and walls alike.

Tony again called for a picture of the group without warning.

Harri printed off both pictures later that evening and hung them on the wall in her room. She smiled at them fondly and couldn't think of a better Christmas.

Tony's gift to her was pretty awesome in traditional outlandish Stark fashion.

He had turned the top the Avengers tower into a large greenhouse area that he claimed would maintain whatever temperature she set it to year round. Many exlamations and happiness followed as she explored the new space with plenty of room for growing all kinds of plants.

She didn't miss the slighty sad look that Bruce gave his simple Jasmine plant after seeing the greenhouse floor, so she was certain to put the Jasmine plant right on Bruce's headboard where it flowed down and the scent of the flowers could be smelt every morning as she woke up.

Natasha had given her a year's supply of contacts in her eye prescription.

It took the super spy quite a while to teach the young lady how to stick the contacts to her eyes, but Harri couldn't deny how nice they were once they were in.

During the last few days of the holidays, Remus and Sirius also stopped by. She enjoyed getting to spend time with them as well, though the atmosphere was still slightly tense with them. They asked a lot of questions that she couldn't tell them.

Before they left, Sirius pulled her aside to talk to her.

"Listen, pup, are you OK? You're not getting into anything dangerous to defeat Voldemort, right?" he asked her.

She looked him straight in the eye, "No! What I can do is just who I am now. I didn't trade my soul for powers or anything."

"OK, then good job. Remus and I are proud of you," he told her.

The start of the second term was offset by the continued presence of a group of the best wardbreakers and wardsetters that the Wizarding World had to offer. They were going over the wards with a fine toothed comb, checking that everything had been repaired and that another attack couldn't happen.

"Where are your glasses?" Lavender asked her at the dinner table at the post Christmas meal.

"I'm wearing contacts now," Harri said.

"What are those?" Lavender asked, and Harri rolled her eyes, sometimes unbelieving of just how ignorant most of the wizarding population was.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Break~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Things were peaceful throughout the spring term except for the pitying looks that Hermione kept sending her. Harri had now made it a habit to stay in Bruce's quarters for the night, and, while she would check at least once a week for monitoring charms, there had been none since Dumbledore left.

She grew a bit lax about even basic surveillance.

Those red flags from Hermione were all the warning she got before Hermione made her move.

Bruce, Clint, and Harri were called into McGonagall's office.

"Sit," McGonagall commanded as they entered, and the three took seats across from her. Clint slouched down low in his, feet wide, the picture of a teenage boy called to the principal's office.

She peered at the three of them sternly over the top of her glasses, "As I'm certain you know, there have been complaints that you lot are too dangerous to remain at the school. Hogwash, I say, and I was perfectly content to ignore the speculations. But something new has come up that I cannot ignore."

Here, she paused as though waiting for them to confess something. The three shot each other confused looks.

"I was given a rather personal picture," McGonagall finally said, pulling out a picture and sliding it over the top of the desk.

The three leaned forward and glanced at it before blanching.

"It's not what it looks like!" Harri immediately said.

Bruce flushed red, and Clint looked like he was going to laugh until he took in the angry look on McGonagall's face and immediately his face grew grave as well.

"A student in a teacher's bed! In all of my extensive years at Hogwarts, we have had such a disgraceful situation only a handful of times. It is utterly inappropriate," she scolded them.

Harri flushed red as well.

"And Mr. Barton, before you even ask why you were brought here as well, I was certain you already knew about it and your expressions have confirmed that," McGonagall told the third member of the trio.

She paused and looked at them sternly, "Originally, I had written up an official report of indiscretions with a minor to be sent to the Ministry of Magic."

McGonagall held up her hand as Harri opened her mouth, "Hold on Ms. Potter, now I said originally, however I remembered Dumbledore saying that you had somehow lost a year of your life and turned 17 over the summer instead of the 16 that you should have been. In that case, the matter, whatever it is and no Mr. Barton, I do not want to know specifics, regardless, the matter is now only illegal in the sense of a teacher with a student. So, my original report was destroyed."

She flicked her wrist and the papers on the desk started burning without affecting anything else.

Harri watched the incriminating report burn up, gulping as she realized the trouble she could have gotten Bruce into.

"And the picture disappeared as well," McGonagall said with another flick of the wrist that merely showed Harri curled up against Bruce's chest, both in bed but dressed. Still, she had no doubt it was enough for the ministry to use against a muggle.

"And Mr Banner, you were formally fired one week ago today, right before the picture was reportedly taken. As such, the accusation was made too late, as you both are consenting adults, and there is no teacher/student relationship," McGonagall finished.

Harri breathed a sigh of relief and a tension left the other two as well.

"I cannot believe that I am doing this, but Harri, I think you need to leave. Hogwarts does not seem safe for you anymore, and I trust no one more than these two to protect you. I do not know why Dumbledore picked them, but his choice was clearly not wrong. Since Dr. Banner will now be leaving, I have no doubts that you two will be following him. There is only a week left in the school year, go before someone here attacks you or makes additional accusations that I cannot sweep under the rug so easily," McGonagall told the young woman sitting before her before turning a stern look on the two men. "You have about thirty minutes to gather your stuff and leave before I will have to file a missing student report."

Harri glanced at the other two before jumping to her feet.

The men led the way out, and when Harri reached the door, McGonagall called for her to stay a minute. She waved the men on and waited until the door had shut at the bottom before turning back.

"Harri, I want you to know that I am incredibly thankful that you saved me before Christmas," McGonagall told her. "I have no doubt I would have died that day if you had not done what you had. And I know that it will rest on your conscious for the rest of your life, so you needed to know that what you did was the right thing to do."

Harri swallowed as she looked down at the floor, remembering the weight of Bellatrix's body and the warm blood flowing onto her stomach.

"You are a brave young woman, and I am so proud of you," McGonagall said, eyes shining slightly.

Harri's own eyes felt slightly wet as she stared back at her Head of House.

"Go do amazing things, young lady, but know you always have a home at Hogwarts," she finished.

"Thank you," Harri said.

She turned to head out the door, but was stopped by a slight cough. Professor McGonagall floated a small box to her.

"And as your Head of House, with your parentless status, I would be remiss not to give you this box. Based on your muggle upbringing, I included a variety of contraceptives of both the magical and muggle nature. Regardless of your preference, you must use some form of contraceptives, young lady," McGonagall said sternly.

Harri's face turned bright red as she gaped, "But we honestly aren't together! It was completely innocent, I have nightmares!"

Professor McGonagall held up her hand, "You have 25 minutes, make the most of it."

At the bottom of the steps, outside of the gargoyle, the three looked at each other.

"Well, what now?" Clint asked.

Harri looked up, "We head back home and regroup from there. We have to find Dumbledore, the horcruxes, defeat Voldemort, and work as a team with the Avengers."

"Oh yeah, just that," Bruce said.

"Let's hurry, I want to say goodbye to a few people before we head out," Harri said, tugging the two along by their shirt sleeves.

The three split ways to go to their dorms. Harri simply checked that she hadn't left anything in her dorm before using the sling ring to move swiftly into Bruce's quarters where she had been leaving all of her stuff anyway. A wave of Dumbledore's old wand had all of her belongings shrinking and going into a backpack.

Another wave of the wand took the objects right out of Bruce's hands and shrunk and placed them into a duffle bag. He sent her a thankful glance from where he had been standing by the tall bookcase, clearly trying to decide which books he could carry under such limited timing.

"Magic is the best," she muttered before moving closer, "Come'on, let's get to Clint and help him too."

She sling ringed them into Clint's quarters where she performed the same magic, though Clint had significantly fewer items laying around. A large stockpile of shrunken candy ended up going into the pockets of his cargo pants.

"Who do you want to say goodbye to?" Clint asked her once they had each checked that they had all their items.

She led the way to Loki first. They found him lounging in an alcove on the fifth floor, reading a book while a bottle of old looking wine floated next to him and occasionally filled the cup in his hand.

"Aren't you just the picture of refined elegance," Bruce muttered.

Loki flipped a page in his book, "I certainly attempt to be."

"We're leaving," Harri announced.

Loki raised an eyebrow and lowered the book, "Human plans sometimes escape me, but I believe we still have a week left in the school year."

"Someone made an accusation that Bruce and Harri's friendship isn't completely platonic, which would be highly appropriate for a teacher and student, so we're skedaddling," Clint explained with a laugh as Bruce and Harri blushed.

"Couldn't they have just sent a unicorn before the girl to see about her purity? That used to be the custom," Loki said.

Clint's grin grew positively wicked, "Well, its not always good to check a teenage girl's purity. Even if it wasn't Bruce, there's always the possibility that Harri's been hiding a secret admirer, and then the unicorn wouldn't like her, but it would still get blamed on Bruce."

Loki's face grew pensive, "But she is unmarried? Surely she is still pure? I know that less desirable members of Midgardian society have fallen from traditional courtship customs, but I had believed that Lady Potter was in fact a lady in the society."

Harri cut in, "My purity is not up for debate! And Clint, you are not explaining earthly customs to Loki. Enough! The point is we are leaving. Loki, are you coming with us?"

He raised an eyebrow at her, "I cannot. Have you forgotten already that my father has bound me here? I will stay back and keep watch."

They said their stifled goodbyes before hurrying off to Snape. Their time was swiftly running out, so they simply told him that they were leaving to meet with Clint's grandfather.

"Let him know that I feel he is much too old and senile to be running around so much," Snape told them.

"Will do!" Harri called before opening a portal to an alleyway in London and pulling her two friends along.

"Favorite form of magical travel, by far," Bruce muttered as he was able to calmly walk through the portal with no pulling, shoving, or spinning.

The other two agreed.

"OK, grandfather told us to meet him at the oldest tree in Britain," Harri muttered, "Where is that?"

They had agreed to only call Dumbledore by that alias in public. They could never know when someone could be listening. Harri's magic seamlessly changed their clothes into muggle styles appropriate for London before they walked out of the alleyway.

"Can we grab some lunch?" Clint asked, nose turned up as he sniffed a food truck going by, "Maybe fish and chips?"

"Clint, focus," Harri said, glancing up at the sky.

"Right, well we need a computer then. We'll just google it," he said.

"Great, OK to the library," Harri said.

Once there, she stood back as Bruce googled the oldest tree in Britain.

"OK, the results came up as Fortingall Yew, It's known for being one of the oldest trees in Britain," he reported.

"Right, let's see if we can find grandfather or if that funeral was for real," Harri said, already walking towards the doorway, apprehension and hope equally stirring in her chest.

"I still want lunch!"


	10. Chapter 10

Clint made them grab some McDonalds on the way, and he tore into the Big Mac like a fish out of water.

"Greasy, fattening fast food, how I have missed you. No pumpkin juice in sight, no scones. Good old fashioned fast food," he crooned dramatically around a mouthful of the hamburger. Harri sent him a disgusted glance before striding toward the alleyway.

"Ready?" she asked the other two before opening a portal to Fortingall Yew tree, what google had said was the oldest tree in Britain.

After stepping through the portal, Bruce turned to Harri, "Why didn't we go earlier? Why did we wait until the end of the school year?"

Harri blushed as she thought about it, "Uhm, because I was only thinking of normal wizard travel methods, and that we would be caught?"

Clint rolled his eyes, "What're we supposed to do if he stopped monitoring the place because it's been so long?"

Harri shrugged, "Let's at least look around before scolding me!"

The trio looked around the area, but Dumbledore's particular style and long beard were missing.

An old man was sitting on a bench nearby feeding some birds. He seemed like a normal old man until he stood up.

"And there he is," Clint said as Harri's mouth dropped.

"I have been waiting for you three for some time now," Dumbledore said amiably as he walked over to them, wearing fluorescent orange track pants with a deep red Christmas sweater with his glittery high heels. His beard had been trimmed to where it didn't even reach his chest. He looked nothing like the wizard version of himself, but he certainly did look like he had some form of color blindness or dementia.

"Professor, uhm, what are you wearing?" Harri asked.

"Oh don't call me professor anymore, just grandfather will do. Do you like my new clothes? I visited the amazing muggle store of Goodwill. Fine fashion throughout," Dumbledore grinned as he gave a bit of a twirl in his outfit.

Bruce stifled a grin behind his hand while Clint gave a slow clap.

"Uhm yeah, it's wonderful," Harri finally choked out. She refused to look at either of the other two because she was certain they'd all burst out laughing.

"Now, enough about my fashion choices. We have business to attend to, such as getting lunch!" Dumbledore said. "There's a nice little tea shop down the road."

The four piled into a small brick establishment down the road. Their waitress turned up her nose at their outfits, but at least allowed them to go in. Harri suspected she regretted that decision as Clint repeatedly knocked over cups and loudly sat the fine China down in the saucer.

"Just a bit of privacy now," Dumbledore said once they had been served as his hand tucked in his sleeve a bit. A subtle wave later and a slight buzzing filled Harri's ears.

Dumbledore gave them a recap of what he knew so far about Horcruxes and their possible locations. He set them on the task of finding and destroying them while reassuring them that he would also be searching before popping out of existence.

"Don't forget to call me grandfather from now on," he twinkled at them before dissaparating.

Clint cursed and knocked over an entire teapot that crashed to the floor in a shower of glass at Dumbleodre's sudden departure.

The waitress came over, scowling. Bruce tossed some money on the counter while Harri shuffled Clint out of the nice establishment, apologizing all the while.

"OK, well we need to establish a home base if we're going to spend the next several months looking for magical objects and destroying them," Harri said out on the streets.

"You know, we can't go back to Stark Tower," Bruce said, brown eyes miserable.

Harri and Clint both frowned back.

"Why not?" Clint asked.

"You have both seen how Tony has reacted around magic. On the off chance that wizards manage to find us and attack us at the Tower, they would kill him," Bruce explained.

Even though it bothered all of them to be unable to return to the place that had become their home, they all agreed he was right.

"So now what? We just stay in hotels for months? Buy a budget van and drive that around? We need somewhere safe and private where we can plan. Plus a place with enough room to destroy these things. A no-tell motel doesn't really fit the bill," Harri kicked at a rock on the sidewalk, annoyed she couldn't return home again.

Clint had been quiet during the entire conversation. When Harri looked at him, he looked conflicted with himself, chewing on his lip in thought. He frowned at her when he caught her raised eyebrow.

"Fine, I kind of have a place we could use, but I hate going there," he mumbled, tucking his chin into his chest and crossing his arms over his chest.

Harri and Bruce shared a look, Harri's eyebrows still raised.

"OK, fine, I kind of own a farm in Western Maryland," Clint blurted out.

"What?" Bruce asked.

"What is a Western Maryland?" Harri asked.

Bruce rolled his eyes, "We really need to work on your American geography skills."

"Maryland is a state on the east coast, a few states below New York. But the place is a wreck, no one has been there in nearly twenty years. With my brother dead, I inherited it when my drunk of a dad died, but I definitely haven't been back since. Then, I inherited some more land when my uncle died, and then an older couple offered me a hundred acres that surrounded my family's twenty acres, so I bought them cheap too," Clint muttered, still pouting.

Harri leaned against a brick building as she tried to do the math, "So you own 120 acres of farmland?"

Clint shrugged, "I'd say a lot of it is more mountain woods. You'll see if we go there."

"Does anyone know about it?" Bruce asked.

"Nah, never shared where I was from clear back from my circus days. Fury worked it out so nothing was ever put into my legal documents. As far as the world knows, some developer owns the land and may one day build houses out there," Clint said.

So Harri opened a portal into Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, because they wanted to be careful not to go directly to the farm. Then Bruce rented a car under a fake name, even though Clint ended up driving them.

An hour and a half into the drive, Bruce was stretched out across the backseat, deep in sleep, as Harri sat curled up in the front seat, half asleep herself, until Clint started to talk.

"Like I said, I haven't been back since my brother and I ran away. The farmhouse is probably falling apart. And the land itself was a mess. Over farmed and used, just rocks and bad soil," Clint shook his head as his fingers tapped against the steering wheel.

Harri didn't miss the way his hands were tight around the steering wheel or a nerve in his forehead jumped from the tightness of his clenched jaw.

She reached a hand out on his arm, "Thanks for being willing to do this."

He sighed and a bit of tenseness seemed to bleed out, "It's just, my dad wasn't a nice man. I never really wanted to go back, but I also couldn't just let the land go. It was the only connection I have left to my entire family."

"My guardians weren't nice either," Harri said quietly.

He shot her a look out of the corner of his eye, "Wanna talk about it?"

"Do you?" she retorted.

They were silent for a few miles.

"I can't eat sliced bread," Clint announced.

"Why?" she asked.

Clint seemed to be miles away even as an ungly scowl spread across his face, "He used to eat an entire loaf while he was drinking. When he finished the bottle and the bread, he'd go looking for a fight. Used to get in my face, spitting and yelling at me with his breath stinking of cheap liquor and stale bread. My hair was longer than, long enough that he'd grab it and shake me anyway he wanted."

"My uncle likes to drink Bourbon. Made his face turn a ruddy purple. He only got darker when he was yelling at me. I remember when I was trying to grab my Hogwarts letter, and he grabbed me and threw me head first into my cupboard," Harri said, her own thoughts caught in memories.

The spy in Clint didn't miss things even when he was stuck in memories himself, "Cupboard?"

Harri nodded, "Yeah, they kept me in the cupboard under the stairs until I turned eleven. Just thought that was what you did with extra children."

"My dad used to lock me in the old outhouse. The rats would run across my feet," Clint returned, not shooting her the pitying looks Ron and Hermione had when she shared little bits.

Harri shivered, "I think you had it worst."

He shook his head, "It's not a competition. If I went through things that were worse than you, it doesn't make what you went through any less traumatic. I just wanted you to know that I get it."

"Sometimes it seems like a lot of us superheroes had less than great childhoods," Harri muttered, pulling her hoodie up higher around her neck.

"Yeah, it does. Perhaps they need some sort of safe place," Clint said, before shaking his head, "Calling yourself a superhero already?"

She wacked him on the arm before turning to look out the window, "It seems so beautiful around here."

It was very different from what she was used to. Mountains covered in thick forests of green trees rose on either side of each valley they drove through. Sometimes the highway seemed to go through the flat valleys and other times it went right over the mountain itself, pushing the car to grumble and whine.

Clint turned off an exit and drove through a city. Compared to London, it must have been very new, but the brick and wood siding showed that it was old for America. Some roads would suddenly switch from asphalt to brick.

"Pretty out here," Clint agreed. "This is the last town before the farm.

He was right, of course. The roads slowly widened and buildings became further and further apart. Harri had been expecting rolling hills of open green pastures, but she was completely wrong.

Instead, the mountains seemed to grow closer together, and their car started twisting along the side of the low mountain.

The houses they could see started to become more delapted looking. Many structures were old single wide trailers with strange outbuildings seemingly made of whatever mix of materials had been laying around.

Harri saw at one point what looked like an old clawfoot tub hooked up to the stream. Clint followed her eyes and shook his head.

"Johnsons still have their septic going. Can't believe they haven't been fined after all these years," he muttered.

"Septic?" she asked, almost afraid of the answer.

"Yep, it's as bad as you're imagining. Their toilets all flow into that bathtub, which is the holding tank. Then there's a mesh screen over the drain on the end. From there, it just flows into that stream. Good news is we're upstream," he muttered.

As the road became sharper turns, they heard a moan from the backseat as Bruce sat up, "I think I'm going to be sick."

"We're almost there, don't puke in the rental!" Clint called, taking a left onto a dirt lane. The small car bounced up the gravel road, bottoming out several times on thw several mile drive.

Finally, Clint pulled in front of a falling down farmhouse.

Harri and Bruce piled out of the car and looked around them.

Clint kicked at the ground, "Yep, it's as bad as I was expecting."

Harri couldn't find it in herself to disagree with him. It was certainly not what she was expecting from the beautiful country they had been driving through.

Up on the top of the mountain, she finally understood what Clint had meant by overworking the land. A few scraggly trees were all that seemed capable of growing in the rocky, brown dirt. Scattered patches of weeds grew up, but most of the land surrounding the cabin was hard-packed, clay dirt. Broken fences made from small tree trunks were falling down, each post cracked, grey from weather, and crooked as sin.

The house wasn't much better. A farmhouse shape made from old logs, the logs themselves were also weather bleached grey with damage in several logs and the entire porch roof fallen down.

Several outbuildings were placed haphazardly around the cabin, no clear rhyme or reason. They were all in worse shape than the house which had least still had the main roof in tact.

"Bit of a fixer upper," Bruce simply said mildly.

Harri nodded, but she could start to see some potential rising up.

The place was completely secluded, nearest neighbor about 100 acres away on most sides since the land was an almost perfect square set on top of a mountain.

What did supernatural people need?

Some private space, something not able to be found in a place like New York city.

"Just needs some love, but don't we all?" she finally said.

Clint and Bruce sent her strange looks, but she was starting to find herself excited.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Time Break~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In between looking for Horcruxes, they spent their time trying to fix up their new homebase.

It was a lot of work, made longer because Bruce refused to transform into the Hulk and do the heavy lifting for them.

"If you lose control of me, I could kill people. I'm not taking that chance because you don't like doing some heavy lifting," Bruce said mildly even as Clint tried jabbing him with arrowheads.

The lifting wasn't truly the problem. They were all in excellent shape, and Harri ysed magic to help where she could. The bigger problem was that none of them really knew anything about home renovations. Clint knew the most from his childhood, but he'd only been eight when he ran away. He had to work plenty in the circus doing things like mucking out stalls and building stage props, but rewiring, replumbing, and structurally supporting a collapsing cabin were a whole different level.

In short, things were progressing slowly.

And the Horcrux search wasn't going much better.

They had learned a lot about Voldemort's history. Dumbledore had sent them memories to review and writings that other people had made. They'd learned about his bad childhood and his drive to succeed.

Despite that, they hadn't made progress on where exactly the Horcruxes were stored. They made several visits to different places, but no luck. They visited the orphanege he had lived in and traveled to a cave with Dumbledore, but all they'd found was a fake.

That had been a disaster of a trip all the way around.

Dumbledore had drank the water in the basin and then gone crazy demanding water. When he disturbed the lake, inferi's had stumbled out.

"Zo-z-zombies!" Clint had yelled, shooting them in the head. It worked surprisingly well, but there were many, many inferi.

"Now what?" Bruce demanded.

"Fire," Dumbledore managed to croak.

The guys turned and looked at Harri.

"Right, I've got this," she said, pulling out Dumbledore's old wand that she had taken off of him the last time they looked for Horcruxes. She hesitated for a moment, remmebering how powerful it was.

"Any time now, almost out of arrows," Clint complained.

Taking a deep breath, she said, "Incendio."

The fire had lit up as though she had said Fiendfyre instead.

It burned so hot that the four of them had to duck down and cover their faces. Clint, who was closest to the outside, lost his eyebrows and some of the hair off the top of his head.

The good news was that the inferi lit up like candles, burning and being destroyed.

The group got across the lake with Harri keeping the fire going the entire time. When they got out of the cave, Harri dropped the fire and collapsed.

Clint turned to Bruce, "I've got the old man, you get her."

Clint tossed Dumbledore over his shoulder in a fireman's carry, and they hightailed it out of there.

Both magicals slept for several days. Bruce and Clint were stressed, but, as individuals on the run, they couldn't exactly take them to Madam Pomfrey.

When they at last woke up, exhausted but alright, they tried to figure out the initials but made no progress. Until Bruce had a late night thought.

They had been in the basement of the cabin, which they had turned into a lab of sorts. Dumbledore had been called in to put wards and protection charms around the entire farm along with any protection charms that Harri had placed around. When he came, they asked him to place the same kinds of charms which were around the Hogwarts' potions classrooms, making them a safe place to experiment.

They were down there mostly just hanging out when Bruce had jumped up.

"We're going about this all wrong! So Voldemort had wanted to be defense professor right? He was an orphan who got to go to Hogwarts for seven years!"

"Yeah so what? So was I, but I didn't turn into an evil dark lord," Harri muttered, tossing a baseball back and forth with Clint.

Bruce stepped in front of them, ignoring Clint when he threw the ball at his back, "Yes, and where was your favorite place to be? Before the stuff with the Avengers."

"Duh, Hogwarts," Harri muttered, before sitting straight up, "Hogwarts!"

"Why don't you two ever share what you're thinking with the rest of the class?" Clint complained.

Harri came over and looked down at him, "Clint, Hogwarts is the safest place in the world, everyone knows that! Except for maybe Gringotts. So if you were going to hide a piece of your soul, where would you hide it?"

"The safest place in the world," Clint muttered, trying to lean away from the excited teenager.

"So at least one of Voldemort's horcruxes is probably at Hogwarts. And I'd be willing to bet he put another one in a Gringott's account," Harri said.

She quickly created a portal to Loki's office, "We need your help."

The dark haired demigod looked up from his desk, "Ahh, so they return."

"We think Voldemort has a piece of his soul stored in the school. We need a way to find it," Harri said, slapping her palms down on the desk.

Loki didn't even pause in his grading.

"Didn't you hear me?" Harri demanded.

Loki wrote an F on another essay, "Yes, but I cannot fathom a reason why you are begging assistance for a matter you already have the tools to complete."

"Excuse me?" Harri demanded as he flipped to a different essay and wrote another F.

"Dude, do you just give everyone an F on principle alone?" Clint asked.

Loki paused long enough to glare at the man, "I'll have you know that I read every essay that crosses my desk; however, every single one of them has deserved the F. None of these Midgardians understand fine prose let alone basic essay writing. Not to mention their dismal at best understanding of magic."

"Hello? Dark Lord?" Harri cried in the background.

Loki's brilliant green eyes turned toward her, "I repeat, you already have the tools to find the soul pieces. I will not do your work for you, child."

"What does that even mean?" she demanded.

He sighed, glared at the three of them, before summoning a bottle of wine and pouring himself a glass as he gracefully rose from his seat.

"It appears that I will have no peace tonight," he rolled his eyes towards the ceiling before moving into his classroom. With a wave of his arm the desks disappeared.

"Sit," he commanded Harri.

She fell to the ground while he gracefully descended across from her.

"Close your eyes," he said, and she agreed, though not without sending him a suspicious glance out of one cracked eye, "Completely close both and keep them closed. Feel out for your own soul first."

It didn't take very long for Harri to reach down into herself and find that essence that made up herself.

"Good, young one. Now feel out for the other souls in the room," Loki's voice was soft, and she wasn't sure if he had spoken aloud or slipped into her mind.

She found it didn't really matter as she did what he instructed and encountered the other's souls for the first time.

They were each different.

The first one she noticed was the vibrantly pulsing soul of Bruce.

Bruce's soul was large and vibrant and swirled with green glow. Most of his soul was made up of a brown light that radiated intelligence and patience, but a throbbing green was mixed through it, so passionate it almost hurt.

Harri wondered how the man could handle so much energy without going crazy.

Clint's soul was bright, but tinted from the things he had done. It was as though each time he had killed someone had left an actual scar on his soul. Despite that, she could feel the goodness of the man and the selflessness.

Loki's soul was as big as Bruce's, which confirmed her earlier suspicion that the Hulk had transformed Bruce's soul into something not quite human. It was ancient and powerful, green with blue edging.

"Go further, feel more," his voice instructed her and she reached out in her mental mind, feeling so many souls throughout the school.

It was easy for her to recognize individual souls even among the hundreds filling the school. Each soul was as unique as a fingerprint, bearing witness to lives lived and being lived and yet to be lived.

"Now, come back to yourself. Reach up until you find that old piece that used to be with yourself. Its memory will be there, like a scar after being healed," Loki instructed her.

She had to swallow hard, but followed his instructions, feeling inside of her for the traces left behind by Voldemort.

It took longer to find, but eventually she did. Like a bad smell left behind in the trashcan after taking out the bag, an imprint of what his soul was like was left in her.

Bitter, more than a bit rotten. Green like vomit or mold. Nothing pleasant left to this soul though it was plenty powerful and even had some warped intelligence to it.

"Good, now you recognize that. Go back to feeling the castle's souls. Search for it," Loki's voice was like melted chocolate, soothing to her after feeling out Voldemort's soul.

She left behind Loki's soul and went searching for that rotten one instead.

Finally, she found it and pulled on it until she was certain she knew where it was at.

"Seventh floor, Room of Requirement," she muttered, opening her eyes to see Clint lounging on a chair sharpening arrows while Bruce was sitting crisscross a bit away from her and Loki, seemingly meditating himself.

"About time," Clint muttered, "It's only been three hours."

"You're kidding!" Harri said.

Bruce shook his head, "No, he's right, it's been a long time."

"Well go retrieve it," Loki said, already heading back to his desk, "I assume you will not require further assistance on this matter."

"Why can I feel the souls? Can every wizard learn to do that?" Harri asked.

Loki snorted, "I certainly hope not. I will not explain every tedious skill that you have. If you do not even pay attention to your abilities, it is your own fault and not mine."

Harri stuck her tongue out at him, but pulled the other two along behind her.

Along the way, she suddenly pushed them into a secret corridor.

Ron's voice went past them, "Don't know why you think we need to start studying already. It's only bloody December."

"Because we want to do well, don't we Ronald?" Hermione's voice replied.

Harri felt a pang inside of her at her two old friends that she hadn't even thought about before pushing it away. Once she was certain they were far enough away, she continued on her way, Bruce and Clint following.

At the Room, she asked it to show her what she wanted to find.

When she pulled open the door, it was to a completely empty and barren room except for a thin diadem laying in the middle of the room.

"That's it?" Clint asked.

Harri's stomach felt sick as the feeling of the soul grew stronger in the presence of the actual horcrux. She didn't trust herself not to puke, so she simply nodded.

They brought the horcrux back to the basement where they called Dumbledore and had him destroy it with fiendfyre.

"Three to go," Dumbledore said happily.

Unfortunately, the three did not get a chance to do anymore searching before they received a call from Tony.

"We need you three to come in. We've found the scepter," he said.

Harri used her portal skills to get them to the Avenger's Tower almost immediately.

"Bruce, I've missed you!" Tony cried, clinging to the startled scientist who awkwardly patted the other man's back. They had explained to the billionaire why they couldn't return to the tower, but they had made it clear that they would come back any time the Avengers were needed.

"Stark, Banner, focus! I am about to start debriefing," Steve commanded them, sounding every inch the army captain.

The tall man went over the game plan including information about the Hydra base they would be raiding.

Then, it was into the jet to head to Sokovia.

Along the way, Natasha explained Fury's new plan for the Hulk, "Not that we aren't sure that you do the best job of controlling the Hulk, but in case you are ever incapacitated, it is always nice to have a backup method."

"And the general idea is that the Hulk will respond to this phrase?" Bruce questioned.

"With enough training, we think he will," Natasha confirmed.

"Great, so I've gone from feral wolf to potentially trainable dog. I'm going up in the world," Bruce fake celebrated.

Harri pulled him into a corner with a bit of privacy.

"You don't mind this?" Harri questioned.

"Don't you think its best to have as many ways of controlling the beast as possible," he asked her.

"You're not a beast, plus you and Natasha have never been super close. In fact, she's always been the most scared of you," Harri argued.

"Yeah because she can't control the Hulk the way she can most men. Maybe this'll help her too," Bruce said and then returned to his seat, clearly ending the argument.

Upon landing, they faced some enemies, but the team was able to fairly easily retrieve the sceptre and bring it back to the Avengers Tower.

Natasha's thing seemed to work, not as reliably as Harri's magic perhaps, but it was more than anyone else had ever done. Harri wondered why she felt a slight pang watching the Hulk respond to Natasha.

"You three are staying for the holidays before you go back to your magic voodoo stuff. No arguments," Tony insisted.

Clint, Bruce, and Harri didn't fight too hard, truthfully wanting nothing more than to spend some time with their team.

Back in the tower, Harri woke up late in the night and decided to head to the kitchen to grab some food. She stopped by Bruce's room to see if he was up too, but his bed was undisturbed. On her way, she caught the lights on in the lab. Knowing Bruce wasn't in his room, she figured he was probably working on something.

Inside, she found the scientists puzzling away at something.

She went over and stood by Bruce, almost leaning against him, but not quite.

"Whatcha doing?" She asked tiredly, rubbing her eyes.

"Trying to create artificial intelligence," Bruce replied.

Her eyes widened, "I'm not sure I approve of this idea."

Bruce looked up, eyes guilty, "I warned Tony about the whole Frankenstein thing, but he roped me in with just the question of if it was possible. I couldn't help myself, it's the scientist in me."

She rolled her eyes, "Scientists will destroy the world because they just wanted to know if it was possible to, and then someone else will use what they found out to actually do it. Haven't we been spending months trying to destroy the wizarding version of artificial intelligence? Come'on that's enough you two."

Tony grumbled, but Bruce was fairly quiet as she shuffled both of them out of the lab they had been stuck in for days.

She didn't even pretend like she would be heading into her own bedroom, simply following Bruce into his quarters where the exhausted man went straight to bed without changing.

The next day, it was time for the big holiday party at Stark tower. Harri was dressed up and primped up by ladies that Pepper sent in to make sure she was presentable. Then it was time to mingle with the Avengers and various important people.

Most of the adults were drinking a bit too much, and tongues were loose in the room. Most of the events were amusing until she caught sight of Bruce and Natasha down at the bar, just the two of them.

She could only catch a few words they were saying but there was no mistaking the flirty movements of Natasha and the awkwardness of Bruce as though he were actually trying to flirt back.

Her grip on the banister tightened momentarily.

"Something bothering you?" Clint asked, stepping up next to her, eyes already on the same sight.

"No of course not, why would you ask that?" She questioned. Natasha took a step closer to Bruce and both of them up on the walkway tensed.

Both of them immediately whirled toward the other, but Clint's hand moved faster than Harri could watch and clamped over her mouth. Suddenly he was dragging her slightly into a nearby heating vent.

She cast a privacy charm before they each turned accusing eyes on the other.

"You like Bruce!"

"Yeah well you like Natasha!"

"And they're flirting with each other."

Both of them scowled at each other at that reminder.

"They are the same age," Harri grumbled.

"She's plenty beautiful enough," Clint said.

"Well Bruce is plenty smart enough," Harri returned before they glared at each other.

Then Clint let out a chuckle and Harri a giggle and soon they were both roaring.

"This is ridiculous!" Harri said, and Clint nodded in agreement.

"Plan 'stop this before it goes any further'?" He asked her.

She nodded, "Of course. I don't know what's going on, but we need to stop it."

"Deal," they shook on it before returning to the party.

"Did you two just come out of the duct work?" Rhodney asked.

"None of your business," Clint muttered, before pulling Harri along behind him. Rhodney stared after the pair before walking over to Thor.

"Does Hawkeye often hang around Harri Potter?" He asked Thor.

"Oh yes! The eye of hawk went to her school to protect her for two years!" Thor boomed.

"Hmm," Rhodney said, already planning out how to share that gossip.

The party continued and people started to trickle out. Soon only the Avengers and their closest friends such as Maria Hill were left.

Then the high pitched sound stopped all conversation.

Clanking filled the silence. Clanking and dragging noises as a damaged robot missing many parts dragged himself into sight.

"Sorry I'm late to the party," the robot said.

"Stark, what is this?" Steve asked.

"I've been sleeping, or I was a dream…" the robot said.

Tony tapped on his iPad, "Jarvis?"

"I had to kill the other guy. He was a good guy," the robot said.

"You killed someone?" Steve's voice was growing steadily angrier.

"Not my first choice, but decisions had to be made, sometimes even hard ones," the robot said.

Maria Hill fingered her gun. Thor took a step forward, "Who sent you?"

A recording of Tony's voice filled the silent room.

"Ultron," Bruce breathed out.

"In the flesh. Well not flesh per say," Ultron said.

"What do you want?" Steve said.

"Peace in our time."

Suddenly flying robots burst through the walls on either side of Ultron.


End file.
